WHYcast transcript episode 34

WHYcast episode
Episode Nr.	34

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Transcript 34

Nancy: Hi, and welcome to the WHYcast episode 34.

Ad: I'm Ad.

Nancy: And we are the hosts of the only podcast about a hacker camp in the universe. This volunteer-run event will take place this year in the Netherlands, approximately 42 kilometers north of Amsterdam, from August 8 to 12. So, Ad, what are we talking about today?

Ad: Well, I think most people can guess by now. We have news, we have an interview, we have a where-to-hack, we have a vacancy of the week, we have a messenger from a listener. Normally we do this at the end, but maybe we should do it at the beginning now. If you don't want to miss any of the interviews, click the subscribe button. Do all the social things. Okay, with all that influencer stuff out of the way, let's get into the news.

Nancy: The adfluencer. Yes. So we have had a very successful CFP tonight. Which I find amazing, because it was a sort of an experiment. Will this work? Will people show up? Is this interesting enough to help people write their CFP or craft our CFP? And from what I understood, but I will have an interview later with Chantal. So she will tell all about it, because she was there. It's very interesting to see that if you talk to other people, you come up with cool ideas for your CFP. So that's also the main tip of the day. If you are in doubt, talk to someone else about your plans. And maybe you were surprised on new angles or cool stuff. So we'll hear more about that in the interview of this episode. So we'll let you know. You only have nine days left to submit your CFP as of today when this episode comes out. Be aware. 25th of May is the final day. Towel day is the final day that you can send in your CFP. So if you haven't done so yet, please block some time in your calendar to fill it in. Because we would love to hear your ideas or discussions or workshops or other cool stuff that you want to do.

Ad: And as Chantal will say in the interview, most likely. I haven't heard the interview yet, so I don't know yet.

Nancy: I haven't done the interview yet even. So that's interesting.

Ad: But probably if you have a slight doubt if anyone should find this interesting, the answer is probably yep. Yep. Most definitely it will be yes. There's more than 3,000 nerds. So if you find something interesting, there will be more people who find the same thing interesting.

Nancy: Absolutely. And I can even tell you it's more than 3,000. There will be 31.

Ad: At least.

Nancy: At least 3,100 people at least because that's the amount of tickets that has been sold. We are looking into which team project lighting to figure out, do we want to add extra tickets or not? Because being sold out sounds great. People missing out. Burnout doesn't sound that great, but we also want to have, we don't want to burn out volunteers. We don't, more is not always better. So that is a discussion that is still going on when we know more, when I know more. And well, probably I will be one of the first to know that helps. Uh, we will share it. Uh, through all the channels and also the mailing list. So don't worry if you were worried about that. Um, well, we'll keep you posted, but good news is probably by tower all day. Uh, that's what it is with me.

Ad: I put my bets on it.

Nancy: Yeah, we could be sure. So that by then, um, coming Wednesday will be the next online organ meets. So that's the 21st. Of may, um, uh, you can, uh, you can, uh, update, uh, share, uh, all the things that are going on in your team. Um, so hopefully see, uh, all of the org out or most of the org had there. Um, check the wiki for the details, check the wiki for the details. So we share, we will share it in the show notes as well. And also because it's not done yet, uh, we're not there yet. The 21st of June will be. The physical organ meets, uh, in the Hague and ref space be where next day will be the NATO top. So the Hague is very hard to get out of, uh, from the 22nd from the 22nd of May. So Saturdays you'll be fine driving in and out of the Hague, but on the Sunday you will have a problem. So, uh, please take, uh, take that into account if you make travel plans.

Nancy: Yes. Cool. Uh, I think that was that for the news.

Ad: Yes. Yep.

Nancy: So I think, uh, with that, uh, we should go, uh, to, uh, Chantal.

Ad: Yes. Who we recently had as a host, but this time as, uh, uh, an interviewee, she is also the, uh, one of the founding people of, uh, of the WHYcast.

Nancy: So it's cool that we now, uh, we now have some, uh, switcheroo from time to time. I like it. Yeah.

Ad: She's also heavily involved with a team. Absolutely. And with that, with the CFPizza night and, uh, uh, I asked her to do, uh, do it live from, uh, from the event. Uh, she didn't like that very much. So, um, I get that. Yep. So, uh, you, uh, uh, talked to her, talked to her about what happened and what, uh, came of the pizza night.

Nancy: Let's listen to her. No. Here is Chantal from the future.

Nancy: And at the same time, that's interesting, uh, because I was so curious about how, uh, the CFPizza night went and, uh, to talk a little bit more, uh, about the whole CFP process and getting more people excited because it's, it's just a couple of days left when this episode airs nine days until the CFP four, why, uh, closes on the 25th of May, which is, uh,

Chantal: uh, yeah, no, the CFP, uh, CFPizza night was, uh, was a success in my opinion, but also, uh, the participants, I think we had around 20 people that were actually there in person and, uh, around, uh, 15 to 20 that also joined online in and out a little bit, but, uh, yeah, no. So I think it, uh, it was a success and we could, uh, really help, uh, some people get started or maybe finish it.

Chantal: Yeah. So, uh, that was really, really cool.

Nancy: And it was also a co-production for multiple events, right? We did it for, for why, but also for Wiccon, but later along the line, uh, uh, another event also joined in.

Chantal: Orangecon. They also joined in. Yeah. Uh, so Bobby from Orangecon was actually in person there as well. So he, um, he chimed in with some tips and tricks as well. So that was really good.

Nancy: People might, uh, also know him. He's also known as fish, but, uh, yeah, so, so, uh, yeah, so it was useful for, for more than just one event and I think that's, that's great.

Chantal: And that was the whole point. Of course, uh, it, it was, uh, uh, it's useful for, for why, but not only for why it's basically for all, um, conferences and it doesn't per se have to be a cybersecurity or hacker conference. It's also useful for other conferences.

Nancy: And, uh, were there a lot of one-timers as well, like first timers, I mean, that had never submitted anything or were just curious on becoming a speaker or?

Chantal: Yes. Uh, but there were also some people that had some speaking experience. Um, uh, also, yeah, so it, it was, uh, kind of a mixed group, uh, and I think everyone, uh, uh, got something out of it. So, uh, so that was really good. Um, yeah. And, uh, the people that, uh, uh, did speak before, um, were also there to maybe, uh, come up with some new ideas and, uh, and, and brainstorm. So that was also, yeah.

Nancy: Very nice. Um, how, how did, how did the evening went? I mean, uh, you did an opening and I gave some tips and tricks.

Chantal: Yeah. So, uh, uh, we, uh, we first, we had some drinks and pizza, so people could, yeah. So people could already get to know each other a little bit. And then, uh, I did. Um, indeed, uh, uh, yeah, I held a monologue.

Chantal: Yeah. Uh, yeah.

Chantal: Sorry for that.

Chantal: No, no, no, no, no, I, I did try to keep it as short as possible. I think I talked for around 45 minutes. The plan was 30 minutes, but I, uh, there were some questions, uh, in between, so, uh, it was not only me. And, uh, and after that, we actually, uh, um, uh, yeah, we, we split up in some groups and, uh, talked, uh, with each other. Uh, yeah. Uh, and, uh, you know, we could talk to each other, uh, uh, to, to, uh, like, uh, uh, yeah, I don't know if you can see the video now. So I, uh, I think that's, uh, uh, I think that, uh, we did an, uh, group point out, uh, uh, talking to each other about, uh, subjects, uh, like brainstorming. But yeah, it kind of depended on what the group wanted to do, of course. But, uh, yeah, help each other out also. Um, and, uh, that worked really well. Uh, a lot of people got some new insights, uh, new ideas. Um, so yeah, that was really cool. So one big tip, talk with other people about what you're planning to do on the stage.

Nancy: Tip number one for CFPs is share your ideas because you might come up with crazy cool new ones as well.

Chantal: Yeah, yeah, yeah. And it really helps like talking it out to see if there's like maybe you need to add something. Maybe you need to skip something. It really, really helps.

Nancy: Very nice. So that was at least one of the tips. What other tips did you give during your presentation that also might be helpful to the people listening to this WHYcast?

Chantal: Yeah, I think one pretty important step also that I often skip, and I also admitted that in my presentation, do your homework. And with homework, I mean research the conference you want to do a talk on. So what is the audience? What is the conference that is going to come? What are subjects they talk about on stage at the conference? Is there anything special about the conference that you can maybe like incorporate in your talk? Are there subcategories maybe? Yes, yes, indeed. But also like look at trends on that specific conference. Like maybe they have had in the past a lot of talks about assertions. And then the next year, they don't have to talk about that certain subject anymore, because it was a trend in that year, but not in the next year. So yeah, you can always look at that. And maybe that's interesting to make a hook for your own presentation. Cool. Yeah. And I must admit, I often skip that step. Doesn't mean that I like really, really skip it. I always look at the website and I look what the audience is going to be. And then. But it's all in my head. And I don't really put it on paper. And sometimes it's very useful to put it on paper because then you can like, yeah, that was tip number two, put it on paper because then you can easily brainstorm. So you can, yeah, make connections between maybe the subjects you already have for your talk and then connected to the things you researched about the conference and the target audience.

Nancy: Very useful. Yeah, absolutely.

Chantal: So yeah, tip number two.

Nancy: Do your homework.

Chantal: Yeah. And write it down. And it's the, it's a, we, we don't like doing homework.

Nancy: I know that, but yeah, it's, yeah, you need to do it. Yes. Yeah.

Nancy: Awesome. And, uh, are there any other, do we also have to tip Number3?

Chantal: Um, yeah, there was lots of tips and I'm not going to repeat them all in a talk for 45 minutes. Uh, no, but too much.

Chantal: Maybe.

Chantal: Yeah. That's too much.

Chantal: Uh, I am, uh, uh, thinking about maybe making this into a blog post because I think it's a kind of useful to do that. So, uh, I hope I can, uh, get the time to actually do that as soon as possible. Um, yeah.

Chantal: Uh, but, uh, uh, another great tip I have had in the past that really helps me is to not keep everything in your head. Actually start writing things down. And you can do that on paper. Of course, it, that really helps in the, in the first steps of creating a talk, but, uh, also, um, actually making an outline of your talk and then converting that to slides because by converting it to slides, you can actually see if the story you're trying to tell is a story that makes sense. Coherent and has a beginning and an ending. So you have a logical beginning and introduction. A body, the middle, and an ending with the conclusion and in your conclusion, always have a takeaway or a call to action.

Nancy: Yep. Yeah.

Nancy: And, or, and if you have that basis, you can, you can build on that, but, uh, yeah, it's, it's good to write things out.

Nancy: I have a humongous whiteboards where I put ideas and just try to structure them in a sort of a mind map. Yeah. First, and then see, okay, what are the hotspots and how can I logically connect them and by that making a story? Yeah. Um, yeah.

Chantal: But it's still different than like a whiteboard is a super, super useful. You can also do that on a piece of paper, of course, but it, that's still different than actually making an outline and putting it into slides. Uh, because when you put things into slides, your outline, for example, you're going to have a lot of things that you're going to have to do. So you're going to see like, okay, maybe there's a gap somewhere, or maybe there is, uh, did this part is way too long. Uh, uh, so yeah, definitely before you actually like make your permanent slides that you're going to present on the stage, make outline slides and you, so you don't have to like make those slides super, super fancy can just be like bullet points with. These are the things I want to talk about on this slide and then the next slide and the next slide. Um, uh, and from there you can create like your pretty fancy slides.

Nancy: Fun fact, what, what is happening here is we were talking about, uh, submitting a CFP and now we're actually on the part after that creating the actual presentation. Yeah, but it's all connected of, of course. Yeah, it, it can help to have that outline of your presentation before writing your CFP.

Chantal: Um, yeah, and, yeah, and yeah, why I mentioned this as a tip before writing your CFP. Um, it is very, very shitty if you find out when making your slides that your, uh, uh, story is going to be different and that what you filled in, in your CFP actually doesn't really work, um, uh, and still it is going to happen to people. It happened to me once as well. Um, uh, and it fixed that talk to the organizers, um, change your, uh, CFP submission. If it's not, uh, still, uh, if it's still like possible to do that, um, uh, but, uh, if it's after the time that you can actually do that, talk to the organizers, it's usually not a big deal, but, uh, yeah, do let the organizers know that, uh, that something changed, but it, it's just, it's just very shitty. If you find out when making your slide that your, your story actually is not going to work.

Nancy: True. Awesome. That's cool. And, um, what happens after the 25th? Because you're in team, uh, team leader of content, of course. So, uh, you are, you are, you have a great overview on what comes next after that.

Chantal: So after the 25th of may, uh, the CFP closes, so we're not taking any submissions anymore. And, uh, first we are going to have a round of blind reviewers that are going to take a look at all of the submissions. Blind reviewing means that those people are not going to be able to see who the person is that submitted the CFP, so, uh, uh, no names, and we also try to, uh, uh, they're, they're not going to get any information on, on the name in the bio, and, uh, we, uh, are also going through all of the submissions itself to see if there's not any identifiable information in there. Um, uh, so, um, uh, yeah. Yeah, people can, yeah, basically make an, an opinion on a submission without knowing who the person actually is. And, uh, those people are going to rate everything, of course, and that is going to help us as the core team of, uh, Team:Content, uh, seeing, uh, what, yeah, their. What are the highlights? What are the popular ones, the unpopular ones, the, yep. And maybe also things that might not be clear yet. So we have to maybe get some clarification on things. Um, so yeah, and that, that's going to happen after the blind reviewers are done and then, uh, Team:Content has a big meet where we all come together in a weekend and, and we're gonna pick, pick the speakers.

Nancy: And that will be somewhere around the end of June, right? It's the end of June. Yeah. It's the end of June. Yep. Cool. I know from experience that that is hard work, especially with the amount of slots that we are having at WHY. So, uh, good luck to you all because yeah, that's also why we pick an entire weekend.

Chantal: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, you, you, you definitely need it.

Nancy: People who have never done anything like that tend to underestimate it a little bit. It's a lot of work.

Chantal: Yeah, because we're also going to indeed, uh, already look at like, okay, how is it going to fit into the schedule? What do we want where and when?

Nancy: Yeah. Cool.

Chantal: So when can people expect to hear, uh, your talk has been picked that will be after that or, uh, yeah, I, I hope we can already, uh, approve some things before that and I think it's, it should be possible, but, uh, yeah, so the first week of August is going to be definitive.

Nancy: Sorry.

Chantal: Okay.

Nancy: Okay. So the first week of July. I was confusing it with Wiccon.

Chantal: Sorry. I get it. No worries.

Nancy: First week of July. You will hear, uh, most probably at the latest.

Chantal: At the latest, yeah.

Nancy: Uh, if you're, uh, if you are, uh, you, you will have your stage.

Chantal: Yeah.

Nancy: Awesome. And, um, then of course, uh, uh, we would love to see people shout out that there are a speaker out there at, uh, at, uh, why? Yes, definitely. Um, how can you shed a little light on how that will go on the field as well? So I'm a speaker and then I'm coming to the field to say, Hey, I'm a speaker. Where do I go now?

Chantal: Yeah. I don't have the complete details on that yet, but, uh, just like previous years, there is definitely going to be a speaker desk. So if you're a speaker, please report to that so that we know that you're here. Uh, you'll get, uh, information. Uh, we'll do a test. If everything works and, uh, uh, and then you're on your way, you can enjoy the event or go onto the stage right away.

Nancy: And you will have a Harold most probably. Yes. A volunteer that will shout out who you are and why you're cool and why your story is amazing. And then, uh, so you, you get a warm introduction, uh, through the audience. So that's amazing experience as a speaker. Yes. If I, uh, from what I've seen. Yeah. And, uh, so yeah. So you will be taken care of. There's always a spot to go at the speaker desk. Uh, there's a, there will be a place for you to prepare, uh, uh, your last, uh, things. And then you're off to the stage.

Chantal: Yeah. So the speaker desk is also indeed a quiet place for speakers to sit if they still want to like do something on their slides or concentrate before their talk. So yeah, there's also, uh, uh, some room to chill out. Um, uh, uh, but also, yeah, all the information for speakers, uh, you can get it there.

Nancy: And I think what is also very cool and worth mentioning is that, uh, unless you've said you are not allowing it, all the speech, all the talks are being recorded.

Chantal: Yes. So if you want to show it to your friends who are not able to go more family members or anything, uh, they all will be shared, uh, online as well.

Nancy: And I think that's also cool. So if you, if you, if you are, have the ambition to, to become a speaker on more stages and you really do this well, you can share this of course as well in the future.

Chantal: Um, yeah. And it's also cool to watch back.

Chantal: Yeah. And we have an awesome AV, AV team that always makes the best out of the record. Yeah, yeah, yeah. They really, uh, make a very nice recordings. So, um, yeah, no, it's definitely worth, uh, having your talk recorded and, uh, and then you can share it.

Nancy: Shout out to team production house. Thanks, sweeties. Awesome. Cool.

Nancy: Hmm. Let me check. Did I leave any questions out? I don't think so. Do you think we covered everything surrounding CFP speakers presentations?

Chantal: So, uh, no. Yeah, I can, I can talk about this, uh, for a very long time. We're not going to do that here. Um, no. If anyone is still doubting to, uh, do this. Submit to the CFP of why, uh, just do it.

Chantal: Um, uh, maybe it's also, uh, we covered the difference between, um, uh, all the names for a CFP in the, in the CFP tonight as well, because there's a lot of, you have to call for presentations. You have call for proposals. You have call for speakers. You have call for whatever, uh, a lot. Um, this is a call for proposals. And that means that we want your proposal. You don't have to have everything ready yet. We want to know if you have a cool idea, please let us know. And then we can see if it fits for why.

Chantal: Cool. So submit your ideas.

Nancy: Do that. Yes. Cool. Chantal, thank you so much. We will most probably hear and see you again in the WHYcast Summer in the future. I think. Probably. Because you're one of the founding people of, uh, of this, uh, beautiful WHYcast. Uh, so thank you so much for, uh, for this interview and shedding a light on the CFP process and the CFP tonight. And, uh, see you soon. See you soon.

Nancy: Well, that was Chantal. And, um, I think it's a nice little nugget to mention that we are actually planning, uh, team WHYcast that is to, uh, uh, to put, to, uh, uh, fill in. Uh, a CFP for, uh, to talk about the WHYcast. What happened? Why did it happen? And what are the numbers? Because we love numbers. Uh, and, um, so we are going to do a talk, uh, most definitely, or not most definitely, it depends on one thing, uh, about the WHYcast. Because what does this depend on us? If we will be on stage or not?

Ad: Clueless. You tell me. You tell me.

Nancy: We have to get through the review. We have to get through the review. We have to get through the process.

Ad: Yes.

Ad: The adfluencer.

Ad: That brings us to the vacancy of the week.

Ad: Out of order. You do a vacancy of the week before the where to hack.

Ad: No way. Yes. Well, yes. The vacancy of the week, reviewers for Team:Content. Because with towel day, uh, around the corner, uh, all the CFPs needs to be reviewed and, uh, checked for, uh, correctness for completeness. Um, cause that is, I think will be one of the main, uh, uh, points. When you get points off of your CFP, if it's, uh, not detailed enough. I mean, it doesn't have to be, uh, 20 pages long. But only a title is probably not enough. So there should be a little direction at least, uh, in, in what you're going to talk about or what the workshop is going to be about a little bit of background. Um, do include a little bio, uh, on yourself as well. Um, but then they, they need people to review all the CFPs. And if you think that's pretty cool, I could get a sneak peek at what is, uh, what is on.

Nancy: Perfect. Thanks.

Ad: Then we go to the, to the where to hack. And then we go.

Nancy: I think it's because you started out with doing the social media stuff at the beginning of the episodes. And now I all mixed up in my head and it's, it's fine. This is fine. Let's go.

Nancy: Where to hack.

Nancy: Each week we will share where you can find why minded people. Where to hack. Are you going to Utrecht, uh, coming Thursday?

Nancy: Nope.

Nancy: Oh, me neither. But I know there will be. Yeah. I've seen a lot of why minded people there. I've seen some speakers on the program that I know will, uh, will go to why. Uh, so you can find a lot of why minded people in Utrecht coming Thursday during the Enlug four years meet. Uh, it's the, I think they don't, they just use Enlug. Right. They don't use the full, uh, length of their name anymore.

Ad: It's usually just, just Enlug. Yeah. Yeah.

Nancy: But it's things to do with Unix originally, but mainly open source.

Ad: Unix, Linux, open source, open systems, open standards. Um, uh, but you do need to be a member of the Enlug two visits.

Nancy: True. Yep.

Ad: And we were there, um, last time we did a WHYcast from, from there. Um, I should have looked it up. I looked up the episode number beforehand, but I didn't.

Nancy: I will put it in the show notes. Okay.

Ad: Um, but we also spoke there, so that's why we, uh, we were allowed in, or at least I was. Most definitely. Cool. Uh, so that's, uh, that's one. And, uh, the weekends, uh, uh, well, it's May 31st and June 1st. That is a full smack back weekend.

Ad: Yeah. We're going to, uh, to, uh, visit TDoS and you're going to be there on Saturday and I'll be there on Sunday.

Nancy: Yep.

Ad: Yep. So, uh, the WHYcast is there, but not together.

Nancy: Not together.

Nancy: No, but you will be there with another podcast.

Ad: I will be, uh, uh, yeah. Highly likely. I mean, uh, we, we have to iron out that the last little details, but, uh, uh, what we did last year and the year before was do a life, uh, angry nerds podcast over there, um, in the, in the central area of this, uh, free, free open source, uh, event, uh, TDoS, the technical Dutch open source event. Yes. Although the event is not necessarily in Dutch, um, there's, uh, um, a couple of, uh, international speakers usually, and, uh, international visitors are plenty because Gjeldrop is in the South, uh, so fairly close to Belgium and Germany. Yep. So, uh, yep. It's people from across the border, uh, will join there, uh, at the wave.

Nancy: And there will be a why stand there as well. So if you want more, more information about why, uh, and all the things why, uh, you can find us there a book of room we'll be there because, uh, she lives, uh, not, not because she wants to be there in the first place of the second is it's near our hometown.

Ad: So hack a lot will be there and uh i think more why minded people or right orga people will be uh will be there as well

Ad: so uh last time i i ran into uh uh from deco for example yeah yeah so uh uh we'll see you there

Ad: yes definitely i won't be there on saturday because on saturday uh 31st of may i will be at

Ad: Hack42 in arnhem for a mesh testic meetup mesh testic is an

Ad: way of communications without any centralized servers so this is just battery-powered devices

Ad: talking to each other and you can chat uh without any uh

Ad: centralized infrastructure cool yeah so uh there's i think now about 20 25 people on the

Nancy: on the wiki yeah it was a quite a huge list actually yeah yeah i put my name in there uh

Ad: there was like six people on the list and now there's there's there's more than 20 so uh that's

Ad: going to be a whole heap of fun and uh link will be down below and if you have more tips on where

Nancy: to hack where to go please let us know or share them via other channels uh but these are uh uh the coming period uh places where you can find uh where you can find us and other people from norway

Nancy: Cool um i guess because we already did the vacancy of the week now it's time for messages from listeners and i see you wrote something down there

Ad: I wrote something down uh yeah we got uh at the info at uh email address uh ticket system um we got a message from someone who is uh who is uh who is going to join why um he's doing it a trip through europe with a service dog and the question was about the service animals and uh yes

Nancy: Service animals are personnel. Is there to help you.

Ad: Exactly.

Ad: But I would like to take this opportunity to tell everyone else, if you see this cute, fluffy service animal, service animal in training at the moment, so cute and cuddly, the dog has a job. Do not approach the dog. However cute.

Ad: You can talk to the owner, but service animals need some space. They need to be able to concentrate on that job. So if you see a service animal, it's probably okay to talk to the owner, but do not initiate first contact with the dog. If the owner says it's okay. Sure.

Nancy: Awesome. It's good of you to actually use the info mailbox as well, because a lot of interesting questions are coming in there, of course, and you're mainly Team:Info as well, next to being Team WHYcast. Boop, boop, Team:WHYcast. So thank you for bringing that one up.

Nancy: Dan, I think this was it. Thank you for joining us for this week.

Ad: I think so, too. Yep. Another episode done. If you would like to reach out to us, leave feedback or want to share anything with us, leave it in the comment section. Like and subscribe. I'm just doing this again. This is usually Adfluencer's task because he's an Adfluencer. And you can always send us an email at WHYcast at WHY2025.org. There are at least two. No. I'm not including that mailbox. That's Ad and myself. So send us an email there. At least two. So thank you so much for listening to us. And we hope to see you next Friday. WHY-Day.