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True Living Conference 2017(TLC 2017): Through The Eyes of a Volunteer

A beautiful Monday to you fam, wherever you are reading from. I hope you guys had as much fun as I had last weekend.

Last weekend was one of the best weekends I’ve had this year (I lie you not), and this is because of the conference I attended, i.e. TLC 2017, remember I wrote about it here.

The 2017 edition of the True Living Conference (TLC) was more than I anticipated. It was AWEMAZING. I first got to know about TLC last year and I applied to be a volunteer, but I couldn’t attend the conference then because I was in faraway Delta serving my FATHERLAND?.

So when plans for this year’s edition of the conference came up, I was excited because I was going to be able to attend. Attending great conferences are awesome, but when you attend as a volunteer, it is another ball game. You get to see conferences in another way.

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First off,  a picture of me

TLC 2017 was the first conference I attended as a volunteer in Lagos, another conference I’ve been a constant volunteer at is the Thrive Shuttle Initiative, and that was not in Lagos.

When you attend a conference as a regular participant, you just come, somebody registers your details, then you get a seat and just enjoy what the speakers are saying. But when you attend as a volunteer or organizer, mehhnn, that’s the real deal.

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With my co-volunteers

There is a term called “Abstraction” in software development, it can be explained as hiding the details of implementation of a process or product and just showing forth the finished product. Like your phones, you really do not know how it is wired and all, what you are concerned with is that you can make calls, see messages, browse the internet, etc.

Organizing a conference includes making sure that all the wires are well connected and that appropriate softwares are installed on your phone. (Let me not bore you too much sha ??)

So, I volunteered to be in the social media and needbase team. One thing about volunteering is that you will not be able to to sit down and listen to all the speakers. You will be up and about ensuring that everything goes on smoothly. You will also have to get to the venue of the conference early and probably leave later than others. But at the end, it’s worth it because you have served.

There’s a joy that comes from knowing that you contributed to the success of a program.

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With Onyinye Etoniru, the brain behind TLC

I am more than glad that I attended TLC 2017, not just because I served; but because:

– I met people that I had only known virtually before,

-I learnt (both from the conference and from people around me),

-I networked,made new friends,

-I took pictures (plenty plenty ??),

-I took a selfie with TY Bello (yeah, the TY Bello),

-I ate cake ?,

-I was given free perfume (that’s one pro of being a volunteer) ,

-and I contributed to the success of the program.

I couldn’t take notes like I would have done if I wasn’t a volunteer, but there are some key points I’ll like to share with you from the conference.

1. You can’t solve all the problems in the world, but that problem that annoys you the most is what you should tackle.

2. You got to discover your calling. When you do, even nature will support you.

3. To discover your calling:
– take time to ask questions of Him who created you
– do a self assessment
– pay attention to your natural giftings
– ask people whom you respect to do an honest assessment of you

4. We are not just leaders of tomorrow, we aree leaders of today and tomorrow.

5. Use technology as a leveraging tool, not just to be uploading pictures.

6. You don’t have to be an entrepreneur before you can live your dreams, some people are not cut out for it.

7. The biggest asset of an influential leader is integrity.

8. Figure out your sphere of influence.

9. Seat on the shoulders of giants, but be a shoulder for others to seat on. On your way up in life, keep the door open for someone else.

10. Every young person needs an accountability partner. He/she needs a mentor, a champion and a critic.

11. The future is now, rewrite it.

I’m sure you’ve learnt a thing or two from this post.

Have you volunteered for a conference before? How was your experience?

Were you at TLC 2017? Share your experience with me in the comment section below ??

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