Button 2022

We needed that.

I needed to be at Button this year.

At first, I couldn’t explain why, and there were plenty of reasons why not:

• “You’ve spoken at this conference… twice! What else could you have to do there?” I heard, when asking for help making a decision.
• “It exceeds the budget” also came up.
• “Umm… it’s smack in the middle of a whole bunch of national holidays and a week-long school vacation. How could you possibly make that work?”

I didn’t have good answers, but I couldn’t let it go. And so I was there (virtually). Between the school break, holidays, 10-hour time zone difference, and it being mere weeks before my book launches (eek!), I didn’t join live for very much of it and only now, my third time sitting down to catch up (this will take many, many sittings), can I put my finger on why I needed to be there. So here it is:

Energy

The vibe at Button is something seriously unique. It’s like filling up a gas tank of enthusiasm and fortitude until the next one. I needed the injection of spirit.

We don’t talk enough about “long-COVID fatigue (lCf)” (probably because I just made it up), and I don’t mean physical exhaustion. I mean a chronic emotional and mental exhaustion that you a) can’t attribute to anything immediate, b) can’t shake off, and c) just “wasn’t you” 3 years ago. I’ve found that the Button vibe gives me an injection of energy that inoculates against lCf, at least a lot of it, for at least a bit. That’s gold.

Validation

I’m the only UX writer at my company and the content guild lead. The local UX writing ecosystem is strong, but not very big or very diverse (I mean, the whole country’s really small). It can get lonely, and it’s especially easy to second guess ourselves and wonder how bigger UX writing communities are doing things and whether we’re behind, or running in the wrong direction all together.

Many of the ideas shared at Button not only resonated, but validated that things I’m doing make sense, that others are doing them and find value in them. Imposter Syndrome a’int got nothing against a Button speaker on stage describing and encouraging processes you’ve crafted and implemented in real life. It’s empowering to be validated and good for the org where you’re doing that thing you just had confirmed was a good thing.

Inspiration

A content designer’s life is one of constant learning and I happened to be in the market for more teachers. Button’s blind read speaker screening process results in the highest quality collection of thought leaders, whether they’re well known published authors or brand new voices. I don’t attend Button only for the content at Button, also for the leads as to who to follow and where to find content going forward. Button is only 3 days but learning is every day and Google is far too vast and full of noise to be useful; I find it far more valuable to focus on the speakers I hear here for longer-term, sustainable inspiration and ongoing learning and professional growth.

Staying current

This is how you stay current — you show up where everyone is talking and you listen. You soak in the emerging themes and the latest takes on evergreen topics. It’s how you and your practice stay relevant and optimized and it keeps doing your job interesting.

A word about the cost (and the value)…

Tickets may feel pricey when you first look at them, but here’s the thing: conferences are really expensive to produce. There’s the venue and the food and the equipment and the broadcast company and about 10,006 other things that add up. A big one is work. It takes a LOT of work to produce a conference like this and the people who do the work deserve to be compensated. I don’t know what they take away but I wish it was double.

During the conference, somebody not at the conference, tweeted at the conference handle, asking for summaries. That really irked me. First of all, this content cost the speakers a lot to put together, and the conference cost a lot to put together, and creators deserve to be compensated for their work and the value they provide and that’s why attendees pay for tickets. It wouldn’t be fair otherwise. There are lots of free meetups and other content out there, but a huge production like this — well, you get what you pay for and something like this is super valuable.

And here’s the other thing: Even if you did get summaries, you wouldn’t get a fraction of the experience and value that you get from attending — the energy, the connections, and so much more.

I highly recommend everyone join next year in Portland. If you’re worried about affording it there are equity scholarships; there is great guidance on how to convince your employer to send you; there are group discounts; early bird discounts; different tracks at different price points; there are payment plans, and basically, Button people are amazing people who want to do good and want you to be a part of it so they’ll do what they can. Hope to see you there!