IndieConf on Saturday: The things I wished someone had told me before I started!

I'm flying home from LAX tomorrow morning to hopefully make it to Raleigh in time for the IndieConf Speakers Dinner. My talk on Saturday at 2p. I'm an
experienced public speaker, however this is the first talk I've been a bit nervous about in years. I'm used to giving talks on technical talks to developers or higher level strategy talks to Directors, VPs and CxOs. However, I've never given a talk quite this raw and personal. I decided to challenge myself and "go naked". By that I mean no slides. I plan to use a very "old style" and a very "new style". I will keep some notes on index cards (or paper if I don't have time to buy some that fit in my printer) and use the notes to keep my place but otherwise talk. I've prepped for this somewhat obsessively probably to the chagrin of my neighbors in the hotel room next to me.

I also will actually give my backstory. I usually only tell people things they'd quickly find on my LinkedIn Profile or by googling me, but this one is going to go a bit deeper. If it works as I intend, you'll understand why Open Software Integrators is where it is today, how it got so far and why it hasn't gotten farther yet (a growth percentage in the triple digits, what more do you want from me sheesh). If it falls flat then you'll wonder what kind of egotist could talk about himself for an hour.

I don't really care for most conferences. This is one that I'm genuinely excited about! Frankly I'm more excited about attending all the great talks and more terrified about speaking at. I hope to see you there!