So Much For the Afterglow: My Post Denver Startup Week Report

Hello again, this time from far over the other side of Denver Startup Week. Yes, as promised in an earlier post, it's final round-up time, telling you the good, the bad and the I’d do better/different next time. I’m feeling grateful that the first outweighs the second and the last one didn’t cause me to cringe. Much. Let’s break it down.

The Good

First, I did a good job at managing expectations. Did over 10,000 people attend this year’s event, the first all in-person in three years? Yep. Did I have over 200 people sign up to take my workshop? Again, yes, I did get that number along with the advice to expect only 30-40% of them to show. However, my session was scheduled on the last day of a packed conference, right after lunch. I had no hope of those numbers (between 71-95 attendees). Not then, so I had to ask myself a different question: What would make me happy? I settled on 25 active participants. I got over 40. Big good.

Second, the actual presentation went well. I had active participation and an attentive audience. I worked hard to try and keep it lively, anticipated and smashed expectations and give them a feeling of success. Based on the small amount of feedback I’ve received so far, I think they actually got something out of my workshop. And based on the video now on YouTube, which I've managed to watch without feeling the need to hide my eyes, I did a lively presentation.

The Bad

The presentation went great. The technical issues before and after the presentation drove me to distraction. I worked hard to try and anticipate, bring the right cords for the computer, and still had to panic the tech guy until we got it figured out. Oh, and the clicker went missing. Afterwards, my email follow-up went off the rails and didn’t go out on time. Argh!

The Different/Better

Overall, I’m pretty happy. What would I do differently?

• I would have brought a different cord with me.

• Oh, and a clicker

• I would have set out my worksheets first

• I would have attended more events during the week

• Planned my outfit better. I thought I knew and changed my mind three times!

All in all, I found it a successful event. Would I do it again? Yep. In fact, I'm already planning the program I plan to present in 2023. Hope to see you next year. Oh, and once again, they recorded it. Click here to enjoy it! Better yet, tell me what you think.