FITC Toronto 2015 Highlights

fitc2015

A recap post (to go with my precap from two weeks ago) about FITC Toronto 2015 – highlighting the best quotes from the sessions I attended (in chronological order).  And once again, I’ve decided to use the great James White as my post feature photo – and he definitely inspired once again this year!  (Note: links should open new windows/tabs and go to FITC presentation details)

Day One

  • We compare our behind the scenes with other people’s highlight reels (Gavin Strange, quoting Steve Furtick)
  • Don’t worry about being original, be honest (Gavin Strange)
  • Don’t sink resources into an idea you don’t know will work (Steve Tam)
  • Learn to say no (Shawn Pucknell)
  • Set goals and be specific (Shawn Pucknell)
  • Expect change and be adaptable (Shawn Pucknell)
  • Make a list of things that make you happy.  Make a list of things you do everyday.  Compare them and adjust accordingly (Shawn Pucknell)
  • Failure is not a negative, it is part of the journey (Shawn Pucknell)
  • You are responsible for leading the way (Jason White)
  • You can’t always get what you want (Jason White) although this might originally have been the Rolling Stones…
  • Don’t wait for inspiration, create a framework (Ash Thorp)
  • Keep your work at a certain quality level, have good communication skills and be on time (Ash Thorp)
  • To make things happen, you need to get your work out (GMUNK)
  • Make personal work that you love and turn it into work that pays (GMUNK)

Day Two

Cool Story: I was the HOST/MC of Toronto 2 All day on Monday – yay 🙂

  • The hardest thing in software development is building teams that work together (Nick Van Weerdenburg) – I’d say it’s the hardest thing for all teams!
  • Define the roles of your team and what is expected of each role (Daniel Schutzsmith)
  • Technology is slower than imagination (Alexander Blom – FYI he prefers “Alex”)
  • Don’t build something beautiful to trick yourself into thinking you built it well (Alex Blom)
  • Try. Fail. Try Again. Fail Better (Chip Kidd)

Day Three

I did go to more presentations, but I only included the quotes that I thought were most original/applicable to other industries.  Obviously I learned some great resources… but that’s not always fun for everyone to read!  So if you’re a speaker and you’re all like “oh hey why didn’t you use my totally awesome quote, I saw you there” – then I’ll be all like “O-M-G I’M FAMOUS ‘CAUSE A TOTALLY AWESOME SPEAKER FROM FITC KNOWS WHO I AM” or something along those lines…

All in all it was another inspiring few days, interspersed with lots of laughs, parties and friends… can’t wait until 2016!

PS: I’ve also determined that I would like to aspire to become an FITC Ambassador, so I am adding that to my list of life goals on the side bar 🙂

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *