Speaker Profile: Donna Edwards

Donna Edwards presenting at DDD Perth 2017 (DDD Perth Flickr Album (opens in a new tab) ↗)

Donna Edwards (opens in a new tab) ↗, a well known figure in the Perth software industry, presented at DDD Perth 2017 on Attraction and retention strategies for Women in Tech (opens in a new tab) ↗. She is the Events Manager for Women in Technology WA (WiTWA), on the committee for SQL Saturday, and VP of the Central Communicator Toastmasters club. I asked Donna about her experiences at DDD Perth.

From a Director of ACR, a General Manager at Ignia and more recently, the State Delivery Manager at Readify, you have 20-odd years experience in the IT industry. Can you tell me a little about your career to date?

I’ve worked in different roles within the IT industry from sales, to crawling under desks setting up PCs, to phone support and even installing hardware and software for people. In the past ten years I’ve focused on culture and business growth. My passion has always been creating awesome places to work, winning high quality work and growing a phenomenal team. More than anything I believe life is too short to not love what you do — so follow what you love and everything will work out 😊

Words to live by right there. You’re a seasoned presenter on speaker panels; I’ve seen you speak at a number of events. Was DDD Perth one of your first solo presentations at a conference?

Yes I really enjoy panels and have done quite a few previously however DDD was my first solo presentation (over ten minutes long). Getting selected for a 45 minute slot was a huge achievement and pretty scary I have to admit 😊

What helped you decide to submit a talk to DDD Perth?

I knew that DDD was trying to attract more women presenters after 2016 and I’d never actually submitted for a conference before so I saw it as a challenge! My partner was also submitting so we actually spent a day whilst we were on a cruise sitting out on the deck writing out submissions 😊 we both submitted two talks. I certainly didn’t expect to get selected and was probably hoping not to haha!

That sounds like a bit of a #BeBoldForChange pledge from International Women’s Day 2017. Have you a #PressForProgress goal for 2018?

For me, its always about doing more and continuing to strive to be better both personally as well as achieve more for the community each year. This year I am currently about to take on another three committee roles as well as continuing to focus on taking the WiTWA events to another level. We've sold out our last three events hitting record numbers of attendees (200). It is super exciting to see the level of engaged women in our tech community. Just this week I shared four tech events with all female panels / speakers which is brilliant to see! And it will only get bigger and better 😊

Back to DDD Perth…Did you enjoy the day? How about presenting?

The day was fantastic. I got to hear some brilliant talks from the likes of Patima and Nathan and also got roped into being on a panel with them later in the day! There was a great vibe and everyone seemed to be really enjoying themselves along with lots of familiar faces as is the Perth IT industry 😊 Presenting was actually super fun! We had a few technical issues so it started a bit late which made me a little nervous but once I got started I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. I had done LOADS of practice so I felt pretty comfortable with the slides and content which definitely saved me! It didn’t help that I was in a job interview process and the two potential bosses were both watching my presentation — no pressure. I must have done ok cause I got the job 😉

Oh Wow! That’s an interesting point. As someone who makes hiring decisions for the company you work for, do you like seeing presentations and the like on a curriculum vitae?

Absolutely - whether they get involved in community events by either presenting or volunteering is a huge positive when I am choosing between applicants.

What are you looking forward to seeing in DDD Perth 2018?

The level of diversity for 2017 was great so I’m keen to see that remain or improve for 2018. I’m pretty sure it will be even bigger and better after last year sold out so that’s super exciting! More great sponsors no doubt and hopefully an even bigger after party (which means it will be huge). Finally looking forward to learning a lot — the best thing about DDD is the variety of awesome speakers and topics so you can really tailor the day for what you are interested in.

Thanks for chatting to us, Donna!