How it started? 🎬

On 23rd October 2022, Kunal published a video titled "First Time KubeCon Attendee Guide".

Before watching it, I had no idea what the KubeCon is. But after watching it, I googled it and found that it is an annual event in which you learn about current trends and new technologies in the Kubernetes ecosystem.

I then watched other videos also and visited a KubeCon website to apply for it. At first, I thought it would be FREE but when I visited the website and clicked on the register button, it gave me the in-person rates and the virtual rates.

I decided to take the virtual conference but the problem was that I missed the deadline for Early-Bird which were $10 and now only the standard rates were available which were $75 or 16,603 Pakistani rupees.

I became so upset that I won't be able to attend it this year and decided to apply early next year.

I tweeted about it also.

After tweeting it, I closed my laptop and went to bed. The thing that was going on in my mind was that I will apply next year early on.

The night went and when I woke up in the morning and opened my laptop, I saw so many notifications and one DM that was from Chris Aniszczyk. He sent me a code for a free virtual ticket.

After getting the code, I filled out the form and insert a code into it and I got a virtual entry into the KubeCon. That was such a happy moment for me.

Which events did I attend? 🎫

At first, I was not aware that how to take the event, and what will be the timing of the events. This was the first event in my life so I was a little nervous even during the virtual conference.

But after watching the guided videos of KubeCon I found a list of events and added them to my calendar to watch them.

I added so many events to my calendar that I didn't watch them until now because I was under pressure to watch them all and gather as much information as I can only in one week but thanks to the community that guided me. I joined the KubeCon slack channels and asked many questions there.

I also came to know that the events will be available even after the end of KubeCon for 30 days. Now I was not pressurized to watch them all at once. Instead, I could focus on each event clearly.

As I said before that I added many events to my calendar but the 10 events that I liked the most are the following and some of them I watched multiple times and made notes of them also.

The events are the following:

1. Welcome and Opening Remarks by Priyanka Sharma.
2. How To Be Better At Accepting Others Experiences by Duffie Cooley.
3. Open source, Kubernetes, and Cloud-Native From the Eyes of a High-Schooler by Rishit Dagli.
4. The CNCF Cloud Native Glossary by Catherine Paganini.
5. How To Better Understand What Is Going On In Your Community - Peter O'Neill.
6. Inclusive, Accessible Tech: Bias-Free Language In Code And Configurations by Anne Gentle, Cisco.
7. The 10 Biggest Mistakes You Shouldn’t Make In Open Source by Bill Mulligan and Divya Mohan.
8. Mentor-Mentee Framework To Build the Next Generation Of Cloud Native by Kunal Kushwaha & Mark Boost.
9. We're In! Students Hacking Their Way Into the CNCF by Ashwin Kumar, Karuna Tata, Abhishek Choudhary, and Kaiwalya Koparkar.
10. Community Awards Hosted by Chris Aniszczyk.

What did I learn? 🤔

There are many things that I learned not just from KubeCon but before attending KubeCon also.

I shared the learnings related to some specific events in Tweets also that I will write a separate blog about them. If you want to know them, then these are threads that I have written.

1. "Mentor-Mentee Framework To Build the Next Generation Of Cloud Native" learnings.

2. "The 10 Biggest Mistakes You Shouldn’t Make In Open Source" learnings.

Other general things that you need to keep in mind for every event are:

• Don't feel bad to share your failure on Social media. If you're connected with the right people, they will definitely help you. I shared that I missed the KubeCon but when I woke up, the community helped me.

• Don't wait for the perfect time to do something. If something valuable is offered, accept it. I was waiting for next year to attend KubeCon, but it was offered to me earlier and I accepted it. So find ways to get something earlier.

• Don't forget to share your learnings with others. There is so much content already available but maybe new people will find a way through your teachings.

• Mention those who helped you. it's not a good way to ignore those people who helped you. Mention them and appreciate their efforts in your journey. I pinned a Tweet in my bio that shows the people who helped me in my journey.

• Join the social media platforms like Twitter, Slack, and Discord to interact with people and companies who are part of Cloud Native. They will definitely help you and guide you through resources.

That's it.

You can follow me on YouTube, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

Thank you!