Speaking & Media
Discover my talks, workshops, and media appearances across the tech community.
I regularly speak at conferences, meetups, and workshops at the intersection of software development, developer experience, and creating inclusive tech communities. I also share insights through podcasts, interviews, and written content. Here you'll find my upcoming speaking engagements, past events, and other media appearances.
Speaking Engagements
Conference talks, workshops, and meetup presentations
Upcoming Events
Back to Basics: Essential JavaScript Foundations for Modern Framework Development
Boise Code Camp 2026
In an era where AI and tech influencers often promote jumping directly into framework development, this talk emphasizes the critical importance of mastering JavaScript fundamentals before diving into frameworks like Vue.js. Drawing from real-world experience transitioning into Vue 3 development, we'll explore why solid JavaScript foundations are crucial for effective framework usage. Through practical demonstrations and real-world examples, we'll examine how core JavaScript concepts directly map to modern framework features, using Vue 3 as our primary example. This session will help developers understand why 'learning to walk before running' in JavaScript is essential for long-term success in framework development.
Skills to Bills: A User's Guide to Demonstrated Competency
Nebraska.Code() 2026
This session focuses on bridging technical competence and professional confidence by teaching developers how to effectively demonstrate and communicate their skills through building solutions, sharing knowledge, and presenting work. The practical framework includes speaking about experiences, building projects both at work and elsewhere, sharing expertise through social media, and managing impostor syndrome. By the end of the session, participants will have practical strategies to confidently discuss their work and prove their capabilities as developers.
The Kill List Framework: A Developer's Guide to Actually Finishing Side Projects
The Commit Your Code Conference 2026
Every developer knows the pain: 47 project folders collecting dust, each one a monument to good intentions and poor execution. Some research shows the average developer maintains 3.7 unfinished side projects with completion rates hovering at a dismal 15-20%. The problem isn't your lack of time, motivation, or skill—it's that you've never learned to negotiate with yourself about what 'done' actually means. The Kill List Framework is a structured approach to murdering your darling ideas before they murder your project's chances of completion. Drawing from lessons learned shipping 6+ projects in the last few years, this session provides a practical, no-nonsense approach to transforming your project graveyard into a shipped portfolio.
Past Events
This is Technical Talk - Essential People Skills for Developers
Orlando Code Camp 2026
In the tech industry, we often focus heavily on technical abilities while undervaluing the crucial 'soft skills' that can make or break a developer's career. This talk delves into nine fundamental people skills that are essential for thriving in software engineering, presenting practical, actionable steps for improvement in each area.
The Engineer's Guide to Socialization: DB Associations as Networking Patterns: A Developer's Guide to Professional Connections
Devnexus 2026
This talk reimagines professional networking through the familiar lens of database associations, making relationship-building more approachable for developers. By mapping associations to networking scenarios, we'll transform technical knowledge into effective social strategies.
Title: How Do I Build a Lightning Talk?
AJUG November Meetup 2025
The how and why of creating effective lightning talks for technical audiences.
Negotiation is the Key... A Little Violence and Ice-Cream
Magnolia Conf 2025
Every developer has a graveyard of abandoned side projects—brilliant ideas that died in the planning phase or halfway through execution. But what if the secret to successful side projects isn't better time management or more motivation? What if it's learning to negotiate with yourself, your scope, and reality itself?
Back to Basics: Essential JavaScript Foundations for Modern Framework Development
ATL DevCon 2025
In an era where AI and tech influencers often promote jumping directly into framework development, this talk emphasizes the critical importance of mastering JavaScript fundamentals before diving into frameworks like Vue.js. Drawing from real-world experience transitioning into Vue 3 development, we'll explore why solid JavaScript foundations are crucial for effective framework usage. Through practical demonstrations and real-world examples, we'll examine how core JavaScript concepts directly map to modern framework features, using Vue 3 as our primary example. This session will help developers understand why 'learning to walk before running' in JavaScript is essential for long-term success in framework development.
Other Media
Podcasts, interviews, articles, and recorded content
Interested in Having Me Speak?
I'm available for speaking engagements on topics including JavaScript fundamentals, Vue.js development, open source contribution, civic hacking, and building inclusive developer communities.