This past weekend, I attended a fantastic iOS developer conference that was held online. It was called #iOSDevHour, I play on words for happy hour and it was extremely fun.

#The Conference

It started with people separating in breakout rooms on Zoom, and each room had a different topic. I'm actually new to SwiftUI, but when I entered the room I ended being the default group leader. Lol, I was just making sure everyone had input and felt welcomed. The funny thing about life is that one doesn't have to be the most knowledgeable in order to be in charge. I think networking events are special because of this aspect.

Anime Room

My favorite room was the Anime Room. I started off making jokes about Dragon Ball Z, and he was a great ice breaker and really got everyone involved. We didn't talk a lot about SwiftUI, but I definitely found fellow anime junkies that are also iOS developers. I gained quality Twitter followers who are already providing value to my Timeline on Twitter.

The Bad

The bad part about Networking events is the group of people who come to only promote themselves and have a selfish approach to it. One person came in and he was constantly selling his app idea, how much money they were looking for, and all the features inside of it. This really ruined the mood of the room, and he wasted the limited time we had inside of the room. My advice is to build contacts and wait until after the conference to ask/promote yourself to the person you built the most rapport with.

Conclusion

Networking events allow someone to step out of their shell and really showcase their soft skills. Soft skills are extremely underrated in the software development field. One has to express they can work well in a group, be open to constructive criticism, and express ideas articulately. We all have worked in negative environments, and showing someone glimpses of your personality, that can be a leg up in an interview.

"He was super cool at the event, and he was funny. He also had specific knowledge about the exact Tech-Stack for the job that just opened up."