I decided to start writing a blog post after every talk I give, to be able to go back and remember what I thought about each event, what feedback my talk got etc. And I’m starting with Geek Meet May 2011.
The event
Geek Meet is a meetup organized in Stockholm by Robert Nyman. It has hosted talks by many industry leaders like Jake Archibald, Bruce Lawson, Molly Holzschlag, Chris Mills, Remy Sharp, Christian Heilmann and more. It’s free to attend and has sponsors so it can afford to offer free food, drinks and speaker accommodation.
My experience
I was very surprised to hear that the event was sold out just 18 minutes after Robert’s announcement! According to him, that set a new record for it!
This event was kinda challenging in many ways. I was the only speaker, so if I failed, everyone would notice. Also, I had to give 2 talks and one of them was brand new, which is always stressful.
However, the crowd there was awesome! Not only they were very relaxed, but they had a great sense of humor too. I don’t think I had ever been in an event that was so relaxed. And their reaction to my talks was so encouraging, I don’t think I have ever heard such loud clapping in my life!
I’m saving the feedback I got here, to bottle the feeling:
Dags för första sessionen på #geekmeet om CSS3 gradients med @ @ how tall are you? /notReallytooShyButItsFun "We have someone very talented, and hot here on stage. We also have @ " @ presents #geekmeetsthlm Classy. ;) #geekmeetsthlm you can use CSS3 gradients anywhere you can use images. @ has no idea why you'd want a gradient cursor though Didn't know you could use CSS gradients as backgrounds in cursors or list style images. Neat. @ at #geekmeetsthlm in the past we've been about 8 geek girls...today I count 15 and that is excluding the speaker @ #geekmeetsthlm #awesome 15 minutes ago, I knew _everything_ about CSS gradients. Not anymore. Thanks, @. #geekmeetsthlm Första talaren och css-experten (@) pratar om css3-gradienter och dissar firefox i vart och vartannat kodexempel #geekmeetsthlm <3 @ RT @: "save yourself some bytes" så nördigt fint :) #geekmeetsthlm Impressive, @ just spits out all the current bugs on CSS3 gradients in various browsers. She doesn't just know the stuff that works. @ would've gotten a standing ovation from me if i didn't risk falling off the stairs & drop my laptop on some1s head #geekmeetsthlm @ great speech! Amazing how cool stuff you can do with CSS gradients! #geekmeetsthlm @ will there be video of your css3 gradients talk? Great speech @, but what's next at #geekmeet ? Great speech by @ about CSS gradients at #geekmeetsthlm. Always impressed by cool live examples. "CSS3 Secrets, 10 things you might not know about CSS3" with @ at #geekmeetsthlm starts now. I love the savant level of knowledge @ has, totally impressed. Wish I knew half the details she does #geekmeetsthlm #geekmeet - I'm ablaze, wow, @ knows all kinds of good stuff. Just when I thought @ couldn't impress us any more she pulls out 5 more examples of nth-child. Really, really good. #geekmeetsthlm "check, check, check" @ at #geekmeetsthlm You better check yourself before you wreck yourself. ;) I think the talk by @ has convinced me that I need a bigger cursor. (And that CSS can be quite powerful.) #geekmeetsthlm @ Thank you so much for keeping us up to date. Give regards to @ for being awesome, too. common lets shape the future of css :) #geekmeetsthlm thanks for the inspiration @ (and @) #geekmeet Thanks @, @ and @ for a splendid evening!! Thanks @ for an awesome #geekmeetsthlm happy to learn w3c listened to opera and added support for cubic-bezier points >1.0 #bounce @ Savant! :) Are you doing any presentations at any conferences in north america soon? Thanks to @, @ and Valtech for a great #geekmeetsthlm! Very interesting and enjoyable night! Wondering how much recognition/appreciation @ gets "home'. By her lecturers, classmates, her fellow citizens. How Greece treats her. Great presentation by @ at today's #geekmeetsthlm. Good looking interactive slides. Live code editing ftw. Will try out some newfound css3 knowledge tomorrow! Thank you @ for two really interresting presentations at #geekmeetsthlm :) Walking home from #geekmeetsthlm, thnx @ and @ for a truly inspiring geek evening! +2! “@: Walking home from #geekmeetsthlm, thnx @ and @ for a truly inspiring geek evening!” "I like your dress, that pattern could be made with CSS." @ at the #geekmeetsthlm afterparty. Mad props to @ for her pedagogical slides and interesting conversation! Honorable mention: @ for #geekmeetsthlm, thanks! Great #geekmeetsthlm tonight! Thanks to @ and @ (and to @ for the beer and pizza) Thank you @ for another great #geekmeetsthlm and thank you @ for two inspiring sessions and great company after. I definitely need to read up on CSS3, totally impressed and inspired by @ talks at #geekmeetsthlm last night. Thanks @ and @ for the awesome #geekmeetsthlm and Robert make sure she come back next time or we all could go to Greece? @ ja det var riktigt trevligt, @ imponerade med sin pres och med sina skills. Du får komma nästa gång, så kan vi skaka hand! A late but great thanks to @, @ and valtech for an awesome #geekmeetsthml yesterday. me, like, dead. but totally worth it! thanks @ and @ and everybody else that made yesterday to be remembered #geekmeetsthlm @ hi! I was thinking about your history part of gradients... Wasn't MS first with "gradients" through the filter options? @ Forgot to say thanks for a great speech! @ Do you know any example of creating a cloud using the techniques you described yesterday? #geekmeetsthlm @ that's to bad! We'll miss having you here! @ You are always welcome back! Thanks again for the talk at Geek Meet, very inspiring! @ Do you know if your talk was recorded at all? I'm sure a lot of us would love to see it. Apart from the event itself, I also loved Stockholm. It’s one of the most beautiful cities I’ve ever been to!
Overall, it was one of the best experiences I had since I started speaking. A great thank you to Robert Nyman, Valtech and all the 150 attendees, that made this possible. 
As for the slides, they’re going to be published after my Web Directions @media talk, since I want the published version to reflect the latest changes I make to them.
