Promoting With 💩
By @edent
· hackference hf2016 NaBloPoMo presentations · 550 words
One of the hardest things about attending conferences with multiple tracks is deciding which talk to go to.
If your friends are talking opposite each other, it is particularly hard.
As a speaker, though, it's even tougher to know you're up against a brilliant speaker. Speaking is hard - speaking to an empty room is... painful.
So, I thought I'd try a little experiment at the recent Hackference Brum. I was giving a talk about Unicode which - let's face it - isn't the most glamorous subject in the world. But, to most people, Unicode == Emoji.
And what's everyone's favourite Emoji?
Yup - I purchased a Big Plushie ?!
Touting your talk at a conference always runs the risk of looking desperate - or simply being awkward. So I decided to ask people if they'd like to take a selfie with my poo. Turns out, people really like that idea!
And @sammachin gets the first sweet at #hf2016! pic.x.com/bkl7bzvfpa
Don't be fooled - that's not an emoji it's @edent #HF2016 pic.x.com/4x3q0bbtlf
Who loves 💩 selfies?
EVERYONE!
#HF2016 pic.x.com/be7gc78h98
It looks like @guillou_gaelle and @martinthorne are having an excellent #FriYAY at #HF2016 pic.x.com/as8o1kbayy
.@hackferencebrum @edent @lexicobob 💩 Emoji!!💩 pic.x.com/u03o7osyvd
All the ladies love...
#hf2016 pic.x.com/qgtsloaus2
I selfied myself photobombing a poo, photobombing @edent's talk at #hf2016
#hackfurnace pic.x.com/5u6hedqqhf
Me & @edent looking poo-tiful on our combo-selfie with Mr 💩
💁✨ #hf2016 pic.x.com/waka6jwxog
Looks like @JakeLPrice has made a new friend at @hackferencebrum!
#hf2016 pic.x.com/zqt4rgjw0z
And, with each selfie, I got a chance to talk to people and let them know about my talk. It was a fun way to chat and - thankfully - seemed to pay off!
Loads of people turned up, they asked brilliant questions at the end, and seemed to really dig my talk.
In the beginning there was nothing... Unicode lols with @edent @hackferencebrum #hf2016 pic.x.com/efdy2u9ns0
🤣 @edent sharing how the hell to deal with Unicode and getting new characters in at #hf2016 pic.x.com/xmxnvt7uou
.@edent talking the pitfalls, history and future of Unicode and how everyone can improve it. @hackferencebrum #hf2016 pic.x.com/hfkap5hqzi
So, there we go - a fun little experiment which seemed to pay off. I got to meet so many fun new people and made them take some highly questionable photos ?
It was so much fun, that I did it all again when I went to MozFest! 
