Jill Binder Consulting

08/25/2026

Speaker Announcement 2 - Becoming Herself Through Tech: Lumi's Story

Some talks at Tech Differently introduce new concepts. Others offer fresh ways of seeing tech through people's quite different lived experiences. Lumi from Romania has an inspiring journey into tech to tell you, one that began far outside the world of code. 🎶

Her talk is titled:

"From professional musician to web designer, a journey of becoming and discovering my best self"

Today, Lumi is a fulfilled and thriving web designer. This wasn’t always the case. She used to be a piano teacher and musicologist, until one day she decided it was time for a new chapter.

Lumi will share her 10-year career journey, from then to now, with the struggles, happy moments, and the best lessons learned along the way.

Attendees will explore how pursuing a new career can transform our lives, open unexpected paths and help us discover new ways to contribute, connect and grow within the tech community.

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Tech Differently conference tickets are $27.
Get your Early Bird $5 ticket now: techdifferently.com

08/20/2026

Tech Differently Speaker Announcement #1: From Nigeria

Awesome Akinfenwa (Olaoluwa Akinfenwa) is a full-stack developer from Nigeria and founder of TechAid Connect, a nonprofit connecting technical volunteers with organizations that need them. His talk on October 27, 2026:

"The Edge Case Is a Person: What Widely-Used Tools Get Wrong About Users They’ve Never Met"

We keep building tools for a global audience as if access is universal. It isn’t.

My nonprofit in Nigeria, TechAid Connect, qualified for Anthropic’s nonprofit discount on Claude: $16 for two seats. By the time the payment cleared my card and converted, it cost nearly 24,000 naira. It was a real discount from someone who never had to ask what a dollar becomes once it crosses a border.

Working from Nigeria, I’ve hit the same wall in three shapes: a price, a postcode, a verification form. None of them meant to exclude me. Two cost me time and money that the next person was never billed for. One cost me the job. Every time, I was somebody’s untested edge case.

If you build or recommend tools for people you’ll never meet, this talk is for you.

You’ll leave with three questions. Each one would have caught one of these before it shipped.

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You won't want to miss this!

Get your Early Bird $5 Tech Differently conference ticket now: techdifferently.com

08/15/2026

My conference is for tech folks, but a bunch of non-techies have grabbed tickets too just because the concept is so cool! It just so happens that there will be talks for all levels, so there will be something for everyone. :)

The usual "Beginner / Intermediate / Advanced" labels don't fit. I'm thinking of going with:

Everyone / Techie / Super Techie

:D

What do we think?

Send a message to learn more

08/14/2026

The lineup for Conference is coming together, and I can't wait to share it!

Speakers and talks will be announced soon. Get on the newsletter so you're the first to know:

https://techdifferently.com/newsletter/

08/11/2026

My tech LinkedIn feed is depressing.

Anyone else feeling that? Tell me in the comments: Yes / No / It's complicated

In my 30 years in tech, I've never seen it look this much like a graveyard.

So I started Tech Differently. Making tech human, hopeful, and thriving again.

A day that feels happy and hopeful. Inspiring people to build better things again.

The Tech Differently Conference: Join us on October 27, 2026: https://techdifferently.com/

08/06/2026

October is the perfect time to fuel your human‑tech ideas. ☕✨ Mark your calendars now!

Tech Differently Conference
- Talks from people in tech who think and build differently.
- 📅 Tuesday, October 27, 2026
- Approx. 10:30am–4:30pm PT

Plus:

VIP Networking Party + Speaker Panel Q&A
- For Speakers, Sponsors, Organizers, and Volunteers
- Meet your people
- 📅 Wednesday, October 28, 2026
- 10:30am–1:30pm PT

Get your $5 tickets or $247+ sponsorships today: https://TechDifferently.com/

✨✨If you care about thoughtful tech, this is your event. ✨✨

07/28/2026

"Writing a pitch or bio used to feel like working in the dark. Jill's approach made it clear, and the group feedback was invaluable!"
- Heather Gray, freelance website developer

☝ One of our speakers, after we spent weeks turning the cohort's half-formed idea into real talk pitches ❤️

The Tech Differently Conference speaker announcements are coming in August! 👀

Want a $5 ticket to the conference? Comment "me!"

(Prooooobably October 27th but I'm still nailing down the details of that. Can't make it? Replays will be available for ticket-holders.)

07/08/2026

Apparently I’m giving a talk: "Demystifying the Rubik’s Cube... and how a trailblazing woman changed cubing forever. 🎲 🟥🟦🟧🟩⬜🟨? 😂😂

At a recent "PowerPoint Party" where people gave 5-minute talks on anything, when people noticed me fidgeting with my cube, they asked me to do a talk on it. I joked a title. The room lost it. I’m presenting this weekend!

I've seen the same thing happen in so many of my tech talk workshops over the years, where a room gets excited about someone's talk and then that person drops all of their fears and wants to deliver it.

Tomorrow, we recreate this same magic in :

The "I want to hear that talk!" session. With guest industry mentors giving their honest feedback.

I’m excited for this workshop. And I’m excited for you to see what kind of magic we all cook up to make a truly amazing and “different” online Tech Differently conference for you in October.

06/16/2026

Hooowww’s it going with the Tech Differently project so far?

I am so very pleased. 🙂

Thing 1: Today, we had our 9th registration. 🙂

Thing 2: There is something absolutely magical about the group that has formed. The people who make it through the application process (it is an easy process, but it’s just not a fit for everyone and the process checks for that), are excited to be there and are so interesting.

Not everyone sees how interesting they are yet, but we’ll get there. 😉 I can’t wait to introduce them to you, after we’ve workshopped how to talk about ourselves and our work.

Thing 3: The sliding scale is doing exactly what it was meant to do. Making space for people who have great things to share on tech stages but may be caught in the current tough tech job market, or may be from a country with a different economy and a lower cost of living.

On that note: we have 6 countries represented in the program so far! 👏👏👏

Thing 4: I’m going to use the word magic again. The live lessons so far have been palpable magic. Especially the Impostor Syndrome & Authentic Confidence class. I could actually see each person shift their self-identity and what they believe they are capable of.

I’m excited for today's lesson. It’s an optional bonus topic on Clarity and Pronunciation. I’m teaching techniques to slow down and be understood clearly, whether we’re working on being understood in English, we’re natural mumblers (hi, it’s me), or we tend to speed up on stage. All with a focus on tech vocabulary. 🙂 🙂

Curious about what this is all about?

techdifferently.com/

x-posted from Substack: jillbinder.substack.com/p/q-how-is-my-project-going-a-things

06/11/2026

You are always the expert in your own experience.

Your stories, case studies, and lessons learned can't be found in a tutorial. Your perspective is yours alone, and that's exactly what makes a talk worth listening to.

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Two weeks ago, we had the kick-off call for the Tech Differently Speaker Accelerator. Today we had the first foundations lesson: Impostor Syndrome & Authentic Confidence. I could tangibly feel the shifts and the excitement in the room. It was magic.

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TechDifferently.com Speaker Accelerator applications close June 30th. Apply today.