That last piece is so important! Personally I stopped attending demos for a while for 2 huge reasons: 1. they turned into Q&A/Feedback sessions where the focus felt like it was first and foremost an opportunity for people to critique work and ask "how will this impact this other thing I'm doing" with random questions that only apply to the asker, instead of *celebrating* shipped work. 2. they became so polished, with practiced presentations, beautiful slide-decks, clearly artfully scripted and well rehearsed speeches. I knew there was no way I could ever demo something along side such high caliber of presentation. I'm a maker, a builder, not a speaker or presenter, and the thought of trying to demo something I built (actually demo, click around, scroll through the page, etc.) next to these expert level motivational speakers was just daunting. thus. Thus, I stopped attending.
Fortunately, through very intentional work, the focus shifted again towards CELEBRATING work (both wins and failures) and sharing learnings, and not a Q&A or critique session, and I'm happy to join and celebrate my teammates and their work!
That last piece is so important! Personally I stopped attending demos for a while for 2 huge reasons: 1. they turned into Q&A/Feedback sessions where the focus felt like it was first and foremost an opportunity for people to critique work and ask "how will this impact this other thing I'm doing" with random questions that only apply to the asker, instead of *celebrating* shipped work. 2. they became so polished, with practiced presentations, beautiful slide-decks, clearly artfully scripted and well rehearsed speeches. I knew there was no way I could ever demo something along side such high caliber of presentation. I'm a maker, a builder, not a speaker or presenter, and the thought of trying to demo something I built (actually demo, click around, scroll through the page, etc.) next to these expert level motivational speakers was just daunting. thus. Thus, I stopped attending.
Fortunately, through very intentional work, the focus shifted again towards CELEBRATING work (both wins and failures) and sharing learnings, and not a Q&A or critique session, and I'm happy to join and celebrate my teammates and their work!