Saturday, March 9, 2013

SXSWEdu Thoughts, Part I

Perhaps this will be my triumphant return to blogging in my own space, perhaps not. Either way, I have returned from an incredible time at SXSWEdu with a head swimming with ideas. 

Justin, of Tres Columnae, and Gerol, of Dungeons and Discourse, joined me on my adventure to Austin, TX and back.  Rather than confining us to the hotel, Gerol, instead, found us a cool apartment to stay at via AirBnB.  One of the features of this apartment was this fantastic fish:

It's a Barracuda...and it greeted you when you walked into the apartment, as well as when you walked out of the bathroom.  Little scary looking, honestly, when you look at it head on.  It gave me a fright when I walked in the first time, and when I walked out of the bathroom the first time.  

But I couldn't stop staring at it.  And now I realize why.

I have always been a nervous, panicky presenter at conferences.  And yet, this fish made me realize that all of that panic, nervousness, and feeling that everyone would doubt what I was saying, no matter how awesome I was, was silly.  I was always questing for "perfection" in my presentations, and even in my acting and singing.  Anytime I was on a stage. But our friend the fish made me realize I had to get rid of that silliness.

And how did that happen?  Because every time I walked out of the bathroom or into the apartment, I had to confront something slightly scary...face to face. 

And I realized that I wouldn't get anything out of SXSWEdu unless I threw all of that panic, nervousness, and doubt to the wind.  I had to go out there and get out the word about our presentation, as well as talk with other presenters and attendees.  And I had to not worry about our presentation, and panic over the little things. (i.e. not worry about hunting for a word, or not having everything memorized.)

And hey, guess what?  It worked.  I met SO many new people, got lots of ideas, many network connections,  and had some incredible conversations.  People loved our presentation, and I even managed to not beat myself up too much for forgetting a word here and there.

This was a conference filled with lessons, ideas, and connections.  I will write more as the week goes on.  Hey, I have to toss my ideas somewhere, right?

As always, comments are appreciated!  Talk with me, friends! :)

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