API Connect Conference 2021

I wish I had thought to keep a post-diary of every conference I've spoken at over my career. Two best times to start something are "at the beginning" and "today". So here we are. I'll be speaking at APICON '21 along with some really smart people. You should follow along.

API Connect Conference 2021

Post Event Update

The event was a success, though I had no doubt about that! My presentation went well, it was engaging and I was able to answer questions live during the session. Here's the session recording for your enjoyment:

A Recipe for API Success in a Experience Driven Economy
Usando casos de negócios do mundo real e uma metáfora deliciosa de paternidade, David Bressler, Technology-Storyteller, irá explorar um modelo para combinar segurança API e tecnologia de colaboração com motivadores de negócios.
Registration required to watch; the presentation is in English with Portuguese subtitles

For those that don't know me as well... I believe it's important for speakers to engage the commuunity before, during, and after the event and not just present in the appropriate time slot. I was glad to have the opportunity to do so. The organizers of this event were very engaged and helpful which made it easy to add a lot of value for attendees. The results speak for themselves.


I will be speaking at the API Connect Conference (also known as APICON) on April 13th, 2021. You should register to get access to the recordings, including mine.

About APICON '21

I had the great pleasure to speak in Brazil a few times in 2016, 2017, and 2018. When I was thinking about a topic for this year's event, I shared my idea with one of the organizers and the feedback was interesting.

There are talks about technical topics (obv.) and on API business topics, like the API economy and the importance of culture to the success of API programs. My idea, to talk about the business drivers for API adoption was welcomed as something between the two.

In fact, that's always been my sweet spot. With an MBA in International Business and working with companies in almost 30 different countries, representing over the course of my career, five of the top vendors in the integration space... I know a thing or two about how to be more competitive with technology.

And, I know how to tell a good story.

So, I'm going to do just that. I'm going to try to help the audience understand what's so important about APIs when they're thinking about the business opportunities their companies are facing. I'm going to use real-world observations that I've ripped from the headlines, my imagination, and a personal story about how I interact with my bank to help make my story real.

  1. About NY's Covid Passport App. They really missed some basic observations about human behavior, and all of us will pay the price.
  2. Four tips to make you a better presenter. I observed myself recording the session and it helped me understand why I have such an impact when delivering a session in person. You'll enjoy this post.
  3. Improving patient outcomes with FHIR APIs. I have a blood pressure cuff that connects to the Apple Health app. Apple Health Supports FHIR, my care provider's EHR supports FHIR, and yet... there's no way for my doctor to track my blood pressure without me coming in for an office visit. The problem can be solved with APIs, but the fact that it's not solved is not an API problem. Want your APIs to be successful? Focus on your business. Want your APIs to be very successful, create a platform to support business innovation.
  4. A simple API case study. Here's a crypto company that's taken an old financial instrument, put it on a CeFi backbone, and opened an API that other exchanges are using to drive assets under management. It's a simple, beautiful case study.

Other speakers you don't want to miss

Regardless of what you think about me, there are three other sessions that I expect will be awesome:

Erik Wilde on API Management for Grown-Ups: From Gateways to Portals to Catalogs (April 13th, 9:30AM).

Erik is with Axway, really smart, and his topic will give you a good understanding of the API collaboration technology landscape. Collaboration across teams and developing solutions with teams bound by influence, instead of org-chart, especially as the world shifts to a "remote work" model are foundational to the topic I'll speak about later that day. In fact, collaboration is one of the top three priorities I hope you take away from my session... so listen to what Erik has to say carefully.

Here's a teaser for Erik's session:

Mike Amundsen on Designing and Building Great Web APIs (April 15th, 9:30AM).

Mike is super-smart, and this topic is fundamental to unlocking enterprise value as basic technology building blocks that then get reassembled into new offerings targeting specific persona, moments on the customer journey, or jobs to be done.

Of course, the more you unlock, the more you need to dynamically secure and govern. At least, if you want to innovate and move at the speed of 2021. So, pay careful attention to what Mike says.

Laura Heritage (April 15th, 11:40).

I don't know what's on Laura's mind, but whatever it is, you are not going to want to miss this. Laura gets this space and has such a deep technical understanding, she's one of the few people that gets my full attention when she speaks.

Other Speakers

I don't know all the speakers at the event, so highlighting these three isn't meant to say anything about the other speakers. I'm particularly interested in hearing from Digibee and Disney, and Nic, speaking about GraphQL and React is sure to be interesting (April 13th, 2:30).

In fact, if you look at Digibee's site – "Connecting systems faster and easier" is a key message. Listen to their CTO and co-founder at 11:45 on April 13th, then listen to my session to hear why that's so important to your business.

What next?

Well, subscribe above if you're here before the event (I'd really appreciate it if you'd do that). Or bookmark this post and come back. Or follow me on Twitter to stay in the loop.

I'm going to share more thoughts about my topic, hopefully get some feedback ahead of time (you can send me a message by clicking the red bubble below on the right without subscribing), and whatever else comes to mind so I can capture this event for those who miss it but want the content.

After the event, I'm going use this page to save the event and content for the future.

Of course, if you'd like me to speak at your event drop me a note and let's chat!