I officially became a "Tech Outlaw" today. 😂
Don't worry I didn't do anything malicious. I just happened to be in the right place at the "wrong" time. This year, I made a personal vow to stop being such an introvert. I decided to move past the workstation in my room and actually see the opportunities waiting in the real world. When I saw the "Tech Show London" flyer on Instagram, specifically mentioning DevOps, Cloud, and Infrastructure, I knew I had to be there.
I registered, showed up for Day One, and that’s where the adventure (and the "crime") began.
Part 1: The "Accidental" Infiltration
Yesterday morning at the ExCeL was electric. Hundreds of people were streaming in, multiple shows were running simultaneously, and in the chaos, I simply scanned my badge and sailed through the gates. I spent the first few hours feeling like a total pro, soaking up the atmosphere and jumping between the Cloud and DevOps keynotes.
I was taking frantic notes, thinking, "This is it. I’m finally in the room where it happens." Three major "lightbulb" moments hit me:
The Cloud-Native Shift: It’s no longer about just "using" the cloud for storage; it’s about architecting systems specifically for it so they can scale at the speed of light.
The Human Side of DevOps: A speaker hammered home that you can have a perfect Docker or Kubernetes setup, but if your team’s communication is broken, your tech stack won't save you. DevOps is a culture, not just a toolkit.
The "Headache" Economy: Walking the floor, I realized why thousands of tech firms exist. One solves security, one solves speed, one helps find bugs—every booth is there to cure a very specific "headache" for a developer.
I even cornered one of the keynote speakers afterward. I told him I was an aspiring DevOps engineer, and he gave me invaluable advice on what to prioritize in my studies. To top it off, I managed to secure a CPD (Continuing Professional Development) certificate for the sessionssomething I didn't even know existed!
Part 2: The "Bathroom" Blunder
Everything was going perfectly until I needed the restroom. I walked up to a security guard for directions, and she took one look at my badge, then looked at me, and her eyebrows shot up.
"Wait a minute... you're a student?" she asked.
I gave her a massive, confident smile. "Yes, I am!"
She let out a laugh and shook her head. "Honey, you aren't supposed to be here until tomorrow at 2 PM! Students are Day Two only."
And just like that, my "illegal" residency at Tech Show London came to an end. I was politely shown the exit, but I wasn't even mad. I already had the notes, the speaker's advice, and my certificate in hand.
I was exhausted from studying for an exam next week and considered going home for a nap. But then, a reminder popped up on my phone: a DevOps Meetup I had totally forgotten about. Despite the fatigue, I decided to push through.
Part 3: The Pivot to "Data’s Revenge"
The meetup was "DevOps Next Generation: Data’s Revenge" hosted by Fivium, Tarmac, and CODER at Adam Street.
If I hadn't been kicked out of the ExCeL, I might have missed this entirely, and that would have been a tragedy. The energy was completely different more intimate and way more focused. I listened to Beverly Clarke MBE and Darko Klincharski drop gems about the industry, it was quite interesting to listen to how much money companies pay to use cloud services, the figures were massive! and mind blowing.
After the keynote, realising I was the only student there, surrounded by all these platform engineers, DevOps engineers and even CTO's and hiring managers, I decided to take a huge risk. During the session, I stood up and asked:
"Is there anyone here looking for an intern who is incredibly keen to learn about DevOps and ready to work to gain experience?"
The room went quiet for a second, and then everything changed. One of the key speakers told me to leave with 6 networks here and even mentioned there were hiring managers in there with us. They all looked at me and smiled and told me to come see them after the keynote!
As soon as the keynotes ended and the pizza and drinks started flowing, I was swarmed. I didn't need to send a single CV or give my GitHub. Instead of being "Applicant #452" in an automated system, I was a real person having a conversation over a slice of pizza. By the end of the night:
Two companies offered me the opportunity to come in for the summer to pair program and learn the ropes of DevOps.
I connected with a start-up that wants me to grow alongside them as they build their infrastructure.
I ended up connecting and taking advise from people who had been in the DevOps job role for years, coolest thing was taking advice from a platform engineer that had been in the game for 30 plus years! He mentioned to me how during his time, he had to write code on physical pieces of papers, imagine!
My final thoughts are, Never be afraid to use your voice or put yourself out there. You truly never know who is watching. I now have a summer internship secured just from a conversation over pizza. I didn't have to wait for three rounds of interviews or an HR algorithm to "pick" me.
Opportunities pop up when you are actively searching. I'll definitely keep showing up in these tech spaces legally or otherwise! 😉
Top comments (18)
Congrats Maame ❤❤❤ !
I'm glad you decided to come out out of the introvert den and also left the event with an huge achievement, namely an internship, just because of a pizza slice with random dude !
It's amazing, I also used to leave my introvert comfort zone last year, I've been to 8 events or so, after I ruined my start-up project. However it pissed me off they were mostly about finances and not actual tech.
Like I don't really care about social/human aspects, I care about the software to be efficient.
If you're interested to keep in touch, I would be over the moon ! Let's connect on Telegram or Signal.
Once again, congrats and wish you a lot of success, sweetie !
Spreading Love from Poland ❤
Thank you Luftie! And that’s particularly true, the financial aspect always comes later. But the effect / change it has on human lives is honestly what separates good tech from the rest. We can connect via telegram
Alright, there we go: t.me/LuftieTheAnonymous
Cheers, adding you
huge congrats on the internship! Well deserved for having the courage to show up.
Thank you Harsh, and yeah showing up always counts! You’ll find what you’re looking for eventually
Congrats. This was an interesting read as well
Thank you Richard! :)
What a great experience! Online learing can't replace real-life experience. Congratulations for your well deserved achievements!
Thank you Ingo! And you’re right, me learning from the DevOps gurus would really help me when I’m done with uni especially with work experience
I have learnt a lot from your story, it helps when you are confident and not afraid to speak up. Whenever I go for tech meetups, I just enter and go out, but really, what's the point of going if I never talk to someone?, keeping quiet won't get me anywhere in this industry
Exactly Yahaya, there is no point of speaking up at a physical meetup honestly. You always get some sort of opportunity tbh, has worked for me
Congrats Maame !
Will surely try this out for an online tech event and will try to go for offline ones as well pretty risky and nerve wrecking move but totally worth it haha !!!
Thank you! You definitely should… you get free pizzas and drinks plus you talk to cool tech people. Highly recommended
Sounds like too good of a deal haha XD
I know right?😂
I love stories like this—they're truly inspiring! ✨ Thanks for sharing! 🙌
Thank you Maya! :)