Ignite Denver 11 was last night, and it was quite the night.
Since it was my first time attending the event (and, on top of that, PRESENT at the event), I wasn’t sure how things were going to go. I admit, I was nervous and seems the other presenters could sense my nervousness through my tweets.
When I got up on stage, though, all those nerves turned to excitement. I presented with passion, zeal, etc. as I talked about my trek in life being Asian-American, stuck between two worlds. After the show, both strangers and colleagues came up to me to tell me how well I did. It was a new feeling for me; to have complete strangers walk up to me and tell me, “Loved your talk.”
I posted the picture above on my Facebook profile at the end of the night; this morning I woke up with 20+ likes as old and current friends alike showed support. Now I have everyone hyped up for the Youtube clip, whenever that will be.
My takeaways from the event: well, certainly this confirms that I love public speaking. Yes, I get nervous still, but it seems even the pros feel that way, regardless of how long they’ve been standing in front of others, speaking.
I am so blessed to know so many awesome people in Denver, though; I recognized people from the Denver Bee (late April). Even met a couple great friends in-person (finally) after tweeting with them for several months. I’m getting better at doing tweetups these days; I don’t feel it’s strange to meet someone off the Internet anymore.
I just feel amazed at how easily the Denver community embraces us transplants. I’ve only been here since last August and already I feel that I am well-known in certain circles. Am looking forward to many more opportunities to meet more Denverites in the coming months.