Every person I confided in that this was my first ever in-person tech talk was astounded that this could possibly be my first tech talk, when I’ve been a teeny tiny “tech influencer” for most of a decade, and an AWS Hero for half a decade. But yes, yes, it’s true. I had never given an in-person tech talk!
So this October, I finally took the leap to give my first ever in-person tech talk at AWS DMV Community Day in AWS HQ2 in Virginia.
Table of Contents
Why no tech talk until now?
One of the biggest reasons is because I moved from NYC where there are tech meetups and events every few days to the suburbs right as I was gaining foothold in the AWS community. I still haven’t managed to find a local community to join, 6 years later.
Second was COVID, which hit half a year after I moved out into the suburbs, just as my online courses were gaining traction. As you’re all well-aware, the pandemic shut down most community events for years. I had the opportunity to give a few virtual talks, but talking to a camera on Zoom and standing in front of an audience at an event is very different.
Third was imposter syndrome, asking me what could I possibly have to talk about?! It’s so much “safer” for me to continue writing blog posts behind a computer screen where I can’t see what people are thinking… Right?
And fourth was having 2 babies 19 months apart, which kept me busy during peak community meetup hours (weekends or evenings), and prevented me from traveling to Virginia or NYC for larger events. Now, with my younger baby being a year and half old, I have a lot more wiggle room to go down to Virginia to attend AWS DMV Community Day for a day after sending them off to daycare, or to take an overnight trip to NYC to attend the AWS NYC Community Day.
All in all, the perfect storm for me to never have given an in-person talk. Despite it seeming like giving talks is something I’m comfortable doing before breakfast because I create video content all the time.
AWS DMV Community Day 2025
I got the nudge to give a talk at AWS DMV Community Day because I met one of the organizers at AWS NYC Community Day in the summer, and she had mentioned that DMV area (DC, Maryland, Virginia) also had a community day event. Previously, though I kind of knew that there was a large community in Virginia, given its distance from my house (did you know there’s basically only 1 bridge connecting Maryland and Virginia?), I had never considered attending.
But since I met the organizer, connected with her on on LinkedIn, and then saw the CFP (call for proposals) post for talks for the event, I decided to make the leap and throw my hat into the ring. I felt like just submitting a CFP was a big leap forward, even if it didn’t get accepted (something something realize you can only control your actions, something something not the outcomes).
And of course, we’re here with this blog post because the talk was accepted, and I had the opportunity to give my first ever in-person tech talk!
Tech Talk: “From Special Ed Major to AWS Hero”
Here was my presenter page! How professional!
Hiroko Nishimura is a LinkedIn Learning instructor and published author of “AWS for Non-Engineers.” She is a special education major turned help desk engineer turned technical instructor. Since 2020, she her courses have taught over 670,000 learners, and have been translated into multiple languages. She has been an AWS Community Hero since 2020.
If you’ve been following my journey for a while, you probably know my “Special Education Major to Brain Surgery Survivor to IT Helpdesk Engineer to Technical Writer/Instructor to AWS Community Hero” story. If you don’t, I have a blog post:
The talk began with my background and stumbling onto technical content creation almost by accident as I tried to study for the AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner Exam in 2018, and finding my “why” in the process. My “why” still remains that I want to make certain technical content accessible and comprehensible to anyone who wants to learn about it.
Looking back, my “technical writing jargon-free” journey began way back in college, when I became an AVM Survivor after my brain surgery to remove vascular tumors from my brain. I went into brain surgery not even really understanding what “Arteriovenous Malformation” was, because every documentation I came across was way too medical jargon-heavy and incomprehensible.
For my parents, they really had no idea what they were looking at, because they are first generation immigrants with limited English. We essentially went into one of the most scariest experiences in our lives with eyes covered.
After my recovery from surgery, I began creating advocacy groups, moderated online support groups with thousands of members, and created websites and documents that explained this rare disease in “people friendly words.” I created videos for people to watch and share, and print outs for survivors or families to hand out to schools and friends.
Never did I think that in a decade, my years of self-fueled medical advocacy work would land me into a “developer advocacy” kind of space!
Overview of the tech talk
I’ll probably keep on refining and giving this talk. I got some great advice before the talk that most community members are not aware of what “AWS Hero” is, so I should include a bit of information about what the program is, so I ran to my laptop and added a few slides in for that.
From Special Ed Major to AWS Hero by Hiroko Nishimura
- Introduction to Hiroko Nishimura (AWS Community Hero)
- Winding road to becoming a Technical Writer
- My introduction to “the Cloud” and AWS
- Difficulty following content that existed for AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner Exam Prep
- Creating awsnewbies.com
- Leaning in to creating “really” introductory content as a “Professional Beginner”
- What’s an “AWS Hero”? What is the program? What do you do? How do you become one?
- Creating introductory content
- Tips and tricks for newbies looking to get into AWS (especially in technical writing space)
Reflection of my first in-person tech talk
First time for anything is extremely difficult for me because of my social anxiety and anxiety of the unknown. So this first in-person tech talk was one of those “oop… I think I’m creating a few ulcers right now…” kind of moment.
One of the things that grounded me was finding a toddler sock in my jeans pocket (I must have picked it up off the ground to put in the wash pile and forgotten). It felt like my toddler was cheering me on, going “Go mommy go!”
When I showed it to some of the fellow attendees, they agreed, and advised that I should incorporate it in beginning of my talk to break the ice and calm myself down. I took their advice, and it brought some laughters and helped me relax going into the talk.
The event was way smaller than what I was used to with the AWS NYC Community Day. The fact that there weren’t as many people helped to calm me down, and everyone’s warmth was amazing. People offered to come watch to cheer me on, asked very insightful questions (I’m always afraid of Q&A because it’s an unknown), and gave me advice on what I could edit before the talk.
There were multiple people who also came up to me before the talk saying that they’re very excited to sit in on this, as I’ve made impact in their lives from my content, or my journey is something they want to replicate. Those are real feel-fluffy moments!!
Working in front of the computer screen 99% of the time with no direct contact to people who consume my resources, it’s isolating at times, so I really felt that going into in-person events that allow me to interact with them is important for my motivation.
It was also very cool to finally go to the “Local HQ” for AWS, having gone to the Seattle HQ for the AWS Heroes Summit in August. Also, where can you see trains, airplanes, and boats through one window?! My kids would love this place!
Anyways, now that my “first” is done and overall a success, I feel way more confident in moving forward with giving more in-person talks! Onwards!
Other interviews and talks
You can see some of the podcast interviews, virtual talks, and video interviews I’ve done over the years in my “Featured” page: