So, I have been invited by a job agency to like a tech talk or a meetup in my local area. I’m undecided if I should go, the idea of it makes me feel a bit nervous.
I was wondering if any of you have been to one of these meetups (obviously not the same one), and what should I expect? Was there a lot of crowd participation, or was it just like a presentation thing? Did you enjoy it?
You should definitely go to try it out. Most of the ones I’ve added were presentation based. They had some mingling at the beginning and end, but most of the time there was an agenda and at least 2 presenters planned ahead of time.
I’ve since stopped going purely because it was too far of a drive, and my schedule didn’t work out with when they had their meetings.
I enjoyed most of them, some of the presentations weren’t applicable to me, but were interesting nonetheless.
So give it a try, no one said you have to keep going after you try it 
Can I ask why?
It’s mainly a confidence thing, specially if there might be:
My confidence has come on leaps, but if there’ll be many eyes on me, I’ll just want to hide in a corner. 
I think that’s the part that scares me most… apart from a speaker singling me out and asking me a question.
Probably just all in my head. I have never been to one, which is why I’m asking what I should expect.
Will you be the one doing the talking?
No, thank goodness! 
I bet you a pound to a penny that you’ll find the people there to be friendly and receptive.
Everyone gets nervous, it’s just a question of how you handle it.
I think it’s great that you aren’t dismissing it out of hand, though.
I really hope you go.
I’m sure the odds of you being singled out are pretty small. Most people that come to these things, too, have their game faces on and are trying to be reasonably polite - it’s a networking / educational event, and if someone is the jerk who’s trying to show everyone up, they’ll just succeed at being the least liked person in the room. As @James_Hibbard says, I bet you’ll find that people at these types of events are generally pretty easy to deal with.
Oh dear - I can identify with all that, so you have my sympathies.
And I’ve never been to this type of event, so I can’t help much there. If there is a bit of mingling, the best advice I can give is to look out for somebody else who’s trying to blend into the walls (you’re unlikely to be the only one feeling like that) and then go and talk to them. You won’t intimidate each other too much, and if anybody else comes to join you, you already have an ally of sorts.
Usually works for me, anyway.
Each is different, but you’ve got nothing to lose by going. Most of the ones I’ve been to have included a talk at some point. But beforehand and afterwards people tend to mingle and introduce themselves. You don’t have to participate in that, but it’s worth it. Usually people are in the same boat as you—a bit nervous and unsure of themselves. They are delighted to have someone to talk to and get to know. Quite a few times, people have said—“Wow, we could do projects together” etc., which is great.
I’ve always found it useful to remember—at any social event—that no matter how awkward I may feel, it’s highly likely that many others feel in the same boat. Everyone is just dying for someone to break the ice and say hello. So you can do yourself and others a favor by just stepping over the line of fear and connecting with people.
Definitely go. You have nothing to lose, and a lot to gain. 
Thank you for the comments.
After thinking about it and what you’ve said, I decided to go. Booked in a place yesterday. I think that I’ll look at it as an experiment to see how my social skills are.
The event is next week, so I have time to prepare for it. I’ll post back saying how it went.
Remember that’s always good to get out of your comfort zone. You learn something new about yourself and most of the time, great things happen 
Here in Melbourne Australia, I go to about a meetup or two per week, even talk at the odd one. Generally I find the people passionate about the topic, some talks are either hit or miss, usually there is food, sometimes even drinks. The people, in my experiences, have always been nice and welcoming, wanting to help and share their experiences.
If I’m to be 100% honest, I am from a really really small place in Canada, up in the mountains away from everywhere. I am awkward, I escaped into my computer and lost most of my ability to talk and deal with other human beings. I knew nobody else that even remotely cared about any of the things I cared about. I was depressed, I felt alone. I now live in a massive big scary city, but because of meetups I have found people that understand the things I do, care about the things I do, and not only, can I talk to them, but they support me in getting better, some have even pushed me, ever so slowly, right out of my comfort zone to talk in front of people. I can thank meetups for an improved mental health, and feeding me at least once a week 
I think you should go to even experience it once, and if you are nervous, just think to your self, while eating your pizza and sipping your beer, that at least you arent the bundle of nerves talking in front everyone. Have a good time 
So, I just come back from the event.
It wasn’t as bad as I thought. There were lots of people but I did go to talk to them, but felt a bit awkward when someone else talked to them and I was left on my own in a crowd. Otherwise I did OK.
I also sat on the second row. I remember from school that the teachers picked on the ones in the back and asked questions (I was one of them), so it was a safe spot. Except for when the guy next to me asked questions, everyone turned. But I knew they didn’t care about me, so that was OK too.
Subject was interesting (how to avoid technical debt), and apart from the awkward bits when I was by myself I enjoyed it. Food was nice too.
Good for you! Soon enough, there will no be awkward moments
Thanks for the feedback. (Now I’m beginning to feel sorry that I live in the middle of nowhere are there aren’t any of these things I could attend. )
I was also invited in a meet up (it was called PHP Meet up) in an university in my own country and had to present something about PHP. I was prepared to present all about BDD (over TDD) with phpSpec. I had a thought that there will be more professionals rather than fresher students. But when I entered into the hall there were quite few professionals but more fresher students.
So I just quickly decided to change the topic looking at the audiences and quickly prepared myself to give some words (kind of speech) about the career counselling. The big question there was Can I survive (earn) being a PHP Developer?" and I tried to convince them that they can earn and survive being a PHP developer anywhere in the world.
I mean to share here that being confidence is all about your knowledge, the presentation skill and content. If you don’t have anything there is nothing to speak about. So go for it and try it.
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