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Discussion on: Conference Speaking Isn't Good for Your Career Until You Make it Good

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sandordargo profile image
Sandor Dargo

Interesting article, thank you. Do you consider (technical) blogging useful or again, it's more like a hobby for you?

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Erik Dietrich

I'd say that, like speaking, the idea that "it's only useful if you make it useful" still applies. You can easily have a blog that's pure hobby.

That said, a blog is much more of a blue chip bet for career usefulness. A post doesn't cease to exist as soon as you're done writing it. It sticks around, continuing to draw traffic any time you promote it, people find it through search, or someone links to it. And it's more cumulative -- a few years of blogging and you've got a rich set of positions/takes to showcase. And, finally, even if you don't have a plan now, you can retrofit one, so to speak, adding a call to action to old posts like "hey, check out my recent eBook about making regexes simple" or whatever. You can't go back in time and do that with a conference talk.

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Sandor Dargo

That's perfectly right, we can't go back to change a talk! At least, talks from bigger conferences stick around, especially if they used some professional cameramen to record the presentations. Probably those you can also promote anytime and build a showcase.