WritersUA Conference, Presentation Postscript

Well, the presentation is over now, and I think it went about as well as it could have possibly gone. I started precisely at 2:45, and finished answering the last question at exactly 3:59. I was worried that my presentation would only last for 30 minutes, but I paced myself and threw in some ad libs, and was able to fill the time well.

I was also expecting--perhaps it's the pessimist in me--that I was going to present to an empty room. Not only was I wrong, but I was very wrong, not only was the room full to capacity, but the divider was taken out and the room was doubled in size. I filled two rooms, and presented about Wikibooks on two separate projector screens. It was quite impressive.

I talked rapidly at first, but I knew that was going to happen in advance. I talk more quickly when I'm nervous, but I settled in quickly.

Dana, in characteristic fashion, said that the presentation was good, but that there were some places where it was evident I hadn't practiced as well as others. She suggested that I could take a public speaking class at school. Overall it was good, she said. Frankly, I'm happy with the honesty.

I got a standing ovation, and a few compliments after the fact. That's always good. I also noticed that a few of the attendees were furiously taking notes, and many people asked questions. Most of the people were very attentive, following along with what I said, and chuckling quietly at the little jokes I was making. This is good. I'm glad to see that so many people were interested in this. With any luck, maybe I've attracted a few new volunteers.

We're out to dinner tonight, and are hopping on the plane tomorrow at noon. We will be landing (if all goes well) around 11:30PM local time, and should be getting home about 2 hours after that. I probably won't post any updates until after we are home.