As we’re about to wrap up 2024, I wanted to answer some questions people wondered about this year.
If you had to pick your favorite presentation this year, which would it be?
Hmm… workshop-wise, it’s my EventStorming workshop. I did it at CodeMash 2024 and devUp 2024, and I love the audience engagement in it. I do it as a 4-hour workshop, though I could easily turn it into a longer one if there’s interest!
Session-wise, though, it’s a challenge to pick one topic. For work, I do public webinars for NimblePros. It’s like doing a virtual conference talk every month. My favorite one to do this year was definitely the Dev Containers Unwrapped webinar. Dev Containers have saved me a lot of headaches this year – especially with juggling multiple NodeJS projects of different versions as well as taking on a Ruby project. I also had fun generating images for containers.
My favorite conference session that I did is the “From Legacy Monolith towards Microservices via Event Storming”. It debuted in October 2023 and continues into 2025. I even pulled it out for a backup CodeMash session this past January as session slots opened up due to last-minute cancellations. I like it because it lets me present the grey area – you don’t have to be stuck with a legacy monolith, and you don’t have to go all out on microservices either. There are options in between, and I get to show how you can use EventStorming to evaluate what you have and how to modernize based on EventStorming results.
What were some of the other adventures from 2024 that you wanted to share with others?
I launched 2 courses for NimblePros Academy – the first being a topic that they talk a lot about at work and the second on a topic I didn’t think I’d create a course on but here we are. I get tired of explaining identity over and over again, so that’s why I created the Identity Essentials course. I hope to release its companion course – Implementing Identity with ASP.NET – within the next month or so. I’m excited with the topics we have planned for 2025, and I look forward to watching NimblePros Academy grow!
Personally, I’ve been talking with many of my past apprentices. It’s a privilege to still be a part of their life adventures, watching them grow both professionally and personally. To see some chasing dreams like growing a flower farm 🌸🪷🌼🌷🌻and seeing families grow, I really appreciate seeing them for the individuals that they are. It’s been great seeing them grow in their careers as well – in tech evangelism, software development, and even some software architect types! With the passing of one of our instructors a few years ago, I love that his students reach out to me and check-in as well. I like being a part of their adventures and also around to help make connections when necessary.
The most epic adventure for me this year was in late September and early October. I finally got out to Las Vegas, where a lot of tech conferences happen. However, I wasn’t out there for a conference – I was out there to celebrate a long time together with my husband. 🥰 He showed me many of the places he frequents while out there for work. It was also great to finally experience Hell’s Kitchen and the Bellagio Fountains. While I didn’t hear any Clair de Lune, I did picture the late movie scene from Ocean’s Eleven (the George Clooney version, not the Rat Pack version).
We also made it out to the Grand Canyon to the West Rim. I’ve always wanted to go see the Grand Canyon, and Kev found a tour place that picks us up, takes us out there, and brings us back. It was one of the most peaceful experiences I’ve had in awhile. At one point, he was climbing a hill, and I made the mistake of my foot slipping once and looking down. 😳
However, I used my spiritual roots to help reset me and get me back safely. The spiritual feelings there were very surreal and humbling.
Probably my most favorite food stop in Vegas was at Hakkasan, where we had some of the most exquisite dim sum:
What lessons did you learn?
I mean, I learn something every day. The one I keep retelling is about shipping more pots. I need to release more blog posts and videos to get better at them.
Videos are on pause until we get the soundproofing tiles hung in my office. In my course videos, I heard thuds I couldn’t edit out. Having Kevin listen to the audio, he was able to identify the issues and we’re reworking my office to be better for recording. So maybe by the end of this week?
I’m also getting better with Canva, almost to the point of where I am in Photoshop and GIMP. So there’s that.
But the #1 lesson I learned – I really have to be the voice of the human experience. It’s easy for those I mentor to be eager to learn and to get consumed by the code. I have to remind people that we are not our code. We are not solely our work. We still are humans at the end of the day. Bad user experiences can lead to turning more people away. When burnout strikes, you have to take breaks and take time to reset. Either take the break or it will force you to take a break in a worse state.
How are you doing?
Many of you know that I struggle with some autoimmune conditions. They’ve been acting up for the past year, with some months being better than others. You don’t see me at in-person events as much because I’ve been learning how to manage {{gestures at all this}}. I suspect 2025 might be more of the same, if not more focus on virtual presentations. I’m currently only committed to 1 event in 2025.
That said, I will be at CodeMash 2025. In August, I stepped down from my 3rd tour as a session reviewer. About 6 days later, I rejoined the team to shadow Alyssa Diaz this year. So it’s been quite an adventure in this new role, seeing how the large team comes together to make it happen. I’m excited about CodeMash 2025!
Conclusion
2024 has been quite an adventure. It’s been a year of learning, growing, and surviving in the world. We’ve had some ups and downs that didn’t make it into this post, but know that it’s been a rollercoaster. I hope 2025 is more happy adventures and less scary adventures.