Emoti-Con 2019 Reflection
Emoti-Con is a conference held every year in NYC where teens across the 5 boroughs get to express themselves through technology and digital media. Teens get to showcase projects they've been working on and learn about how to improve their skills from each other and guest speakers. Teens can also learn about the path they need to take to seek a career in the industry. Projects also get entered into a competition that can win one of several digital badges.
I entered for Emoti-Con 2019 a month before the actual event along with the same team that I worked with for G4C and submitted Project Xeno. The actual event came on the 11th of May at NYPL and my team had prepared a poster board walking through our motives and development process just for the occasion. At the event, I got to travel around the venue looking at other people's projects. One that stood out to me was a prototype of a robot that dispenses cookies. It was completely made out of cardboard and only had functioning lights and sounds, which means the dispensing circuitry was not implemented yet, however, the presentation very elaborately showed where the team intended to go with the robot, showing things such as concept art and circuit board mockups, to the point that I was convinced that had the team had enough development time they would've made a fully functioning robot. My friends were also impressed but for a different reason, the cookies the presenter was handing out were great (I didn't get to eat any of course because I was fasting). Another project that stood out to me was one made by a team at my own school. They made a game called Datwa and while it was basic in gameplay, I was impressed they got the project done in Unity and had very nice game renders.
After walking around we were called to seating area to participate in an ice breaker activity. Along with 9 or 10 other teammates, we were to build a bridge between 2 chairs out of popsicle sticks, pipe cleaners, and LED lights. The goal was to make the tallest possible bridges out of all the other groups and my group was pretty bad at doing so. Despite our lack of engineering skills, we managed to build a bridge but it was pretty flimsy and very short in height compared to other groups. Next came an activity where we could walk around and ask professionals in certain sectors of the tech industry questions relating to their job. I met with a professional programmer and asked him what he did to get where he his now and if he's been able to apply his programming skills to work for many different types of companies. We were then called back to the seating area and listened to various guest speakers giving their speeches. One speaker that amazed me was a 12 year old girl who knew a lot about hacking and had started her own company. It was most impressive what she had accomplished at such young age and how she kept her composure as a speaker. She was situated in front of many and at her age it might seem a bit intimidating, yet she was able to deliver a very nice speech.
Finally came the announcing of the winners. At first I had thought there was no chance of winning the competition but I stood corrected when it was announced my team had won the most entertaining award. I was so taken away that I didn't pay attention to the rest of the winners and the shock taught me not to underestimate myself all the time.
What I learned from Emoti-Con 2019 was that to make it far in the industry you not only need the skills to work hard but you must have the skills to communicate your work to others. You have to be able to stand out amongst your competition and convince others why they should choose you to work for them or buy your product. In this industry, marketing happens with products and services but also with ideas, others, and yourself. Technical skills are important but needs communication skills to be of any use pursuing a career.
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After walking around we were called to seating area to participate in an ice breaker activity. Along with 9 or 10 other teammates, we were to build a bridge between 2 chairs out of popsicle sticks, pipe cleaners, and LED lights. The goal was to make the tallest possible bridges out of all the other groups and my group was pretty bad at doing so. Despite our lack of engineering skills, we managed to build a bridge but it was pretty flimsy and very short in height compared to other groups. Next came an activity where we could walk around and ask professionals in certain sectors of the tech industry questions relating to their job. I met with a professional programmer and asked him what he did to get where he his now and if he's been able to apply his programming skills to work for many different types of companies. We were then called back to the seating area and listened to various guest speakers giving their speeches. One speaker that amazed me was a 12 year old girl who knew a lot about hacking and had started her own company. It was most impressive what she had accomplished at such young age and how she kept her composure as a speaker. She was situated in front of many and at her age it might seem a bit intimidating, yet she was able to deliver a very nice speech.
Finally came the announcing of the winners. At first I had thought there was no chance of winning the competition but I stood corrected when it was announced my team had won the most entertaining award. I was so taken away that I didn't pay attention to the rest of the winners and the shock taught me not to underestimate myself all the time.
What I learned from Emoti-Con 2019 was that to make it far in the industry you not only need the skills to work hard but you must have the skills to communicate your work to others. You have to be able to stand out amongst your competition and convince others why they should choose you to work for them or buy your product. In this industry, marketing happens with products and services but also with ideas, others, and yourself. Technical skills are important but needs communication skills to be of any use pursuing a career.
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