Attending tech meetup is indeed one of the ways to improve yourself if only you know your role as an attendee. You find your friends being inquisitive on how you dramatically transformed from that person with an acute imposter syndrome to someone who is sure he can do it and is not ashamed to accept and believe compliments. Remembering my experience from the first tech meetup I attended at Abeokuta never cease to remind me of whom I want to be. I had payed attention to the young experts who shared their experience in the field,hearing how they grew up to whom they are and the measures they had been putting into practice to ensure they move forward every day. It was indeed a good starting point that left me wandering for the next tech meetup.
Kevin Benore, a software engineer, wrote in his article Why Should I Attend a Technical Meetup.

“So, there is a new meetup coming up and you are trying to decide whether or not to attend, you are weighing the pros and cons, but can’t seem to make up your mind. Perhaps you have never been to a meetup before and are not sure if,as one boss colorfully used to ask, is the prize worth eating the crackerjacks?”
This might probably be the case with you, making decision on whether to attend the meetup might be difficult.
I will be sharing 3 reasons why you need to attend tech meetup and things to look out for when at one.

1. You Get Inspired to Learn.

Are you the type that doesn’t feel motivated unless someone pushes you? Attending tech meetup is a great way to overcome this issue, you learn from experts how they bring themselves to work even when nobody seem to be commending; and they achieve results worth complimenting. The zeal to keep learning increased that day, the day I got opportune to attend my first tech meetup. The more reason I don’t miss tech meetup is I gets to meet new people, whom from their experience I get inspired.

2. Solutions to long-term question that got you confused.
Opportunity to discuss with someone with expertise knowledge is one thing people look out for when at tech meetup. If you are a hobbyist who has a lot of questions that can be answered by experts, you could get yourself an opportunity to talk with someone at tech meetup that can easily give solutions to your long-term question.
Research shows that experts love it when someone see them as mentor, they share with you their experience in the field and how they have been attending tactically to challenges that come forth.
Take note!
When you find yourself one, endeavor not to over-do it, do not ask question that will make them uncomfortable, avoid being naïve. You surely will enjoy your time with them.

3. Exposure to amazing tips that you can pick from.
If you are the type that is looking out for something to venture into, making decision can be somewhat uneasy; you need detailed research on every topic that interest you, of which attending meetup could be helpful. Techpoint Africa, held in Lekki, Lagos state, was one of the tech meetup I attended that opened me to some areas that can be specialized on, we were presented the opportunity to choose out of multiple choice topics and the event was indeed great judging from how each topic was practically discussed.

Attending this kind of meetup open you to divert topics that can be ventured into. From there you get hint to what the topic is about and practical ways to handle it.

THINGS TO LOOK OUT FOR WHEN AT TECH MEETUP.

Attending tech meetup with colleagues is undeniably awesome as you feel more relaxed having familiar people around you. Not only that, you have someone to bail you out when discussing how the previous week was spent with peers, you won’t be sucked with people who will quickly change topic immediately you start your talking on tech meetup.
But what if I tell you there are ways you can stand out when giving summary of the event the next day at office; you leave your colleagues being inquisitive on how they couldn’t recall the speaker talking about what you are saying; wow, that got you a bravo from them, isn’t it?

– Take Note.

Photo by The Climate Reality Project on Unsplash

Taking note of every point that was discussed is one of the easiest, yet effective ways you can adopt to avoid missing something out when at meetup. If you could recollect or spend few seconds in your next meetup, you will notice some people jotting down some note; these are the brilliant ones. Not only will this help you when posting summary of the event on your social media pages, it will also provide solutions to some future questions.
Be brave and smart, never let go of any point being discussed, even if it doesn’t make sense to you at that moment, you will surely find meaning to it in your research.

– Ask Questions.

Have you ever been in gathering and someone asked a question? Then you begin to wonder why the person is thinking the same thing with you. As published on biophysics.org, working up the nerve to ask questions at meetups can be hard,but you should definitely pat yourself at the back for taking the initiative to try.
Asking questions is a great tool to get solutions to what appear as confusions to you. Every tech meetup always creates time for question and answers and if you have followed the tip above, you would have saved yourself from forgetting what you intended to ask.
Asking intelligent questions can also be a lead way to connect with experts.

– Avoid Distractions.

Distractions can come in differently, ranging from notifications from social media to colleagues taking selfie at the wrong time. Getting over all form of distractions can somehow be difficult but you will get yourself a reward for doing it. Ensure you avoid the least form of distractions when at tech meetup;it will help you.

– Request To Speak.
One great way to help relieve the burden from the organizer is to request to speak at the meetup; it saves the organizer the stress of finding guest speaker. Once you consider yourself competent to discuss the topic, hesitate not to contact the organizer. This should be done before the event date. By doing so, you open yourself to other opportunities that you probably don’t know will come.

– Post Summary on Your Social Media Pages.

The last hour photo shoot isn’t meant to stay idle in your photo gallery; it could be a great proof when posting summary of the event on your social media pages; endeavor to do this not leaving out any key point that was discussed,this could make you connect with other attendee and can also make someone else pick interest in attending the next event.
Free gift.
Attending tech meetup can unpredictably get you exposed to things that could make you irresistible among colleagues; you become the man whose decision is highly respected when at gatherings. The experience you have gathered from different tech experts will definitely take you places you can’t imagine. Being inquisitive on where the next tech meetup would be held should be part of what we look out for.

Question of the day.

Do you have any tech meetup coming up around? Are you an organizer of a tech meetup? Kindly share with us the registration link to the meetup using the comment box.