Presentation for Delta Kappa Gamma, 4-11-15

Me being introduced.  Photo by Mark Hidlebaugh

Remember when I talked about the challenges of working with technology?  Specifically, I mentioned how my projector and PA system like to take turns causing me the most grief.  Well, it was my laptop's turn this time.  Last week, it became infected with viruses and malware.  Yes, a mere week prior to  the state convention of Delta Kappa Gamma.  Thank goodness my awesome, talented mama works on computers for a living.  She is totally self taught and can fix everything.  My parents have always been my heroes.

Mama was able to have it cleaned up by Thursday, T-1.5 days until I was scheduled to speak.  And then after I got it back, I discovered that my slides.....just..... weren't.......right.   Thank goodness for Google Drive and Mama's extra laptop!  The files themselves weren't corrupted, so I was able to access my presentation on the other computer......and it functioned!  Hallelujah!   My laptop is more than likely going to have to be reloaded to get everything back the way it was.


Friday afternoon, I packed everything up to head north to Olive Branch, which is about 30 miles southeast of Memphis.  Mark wouldn't be getting in until around midnight.  For me, it was about a 5-hour drive, and it was done without cruise control!  Yep, the dinky rental car I was given didn't come equipped with it!  I thought all cars had cruise.  You learn something new every day.  So I arrived at the Whispering Woods Convention center with aching legs and lots of equipment to transport to my room, which was challenging to find.  It was like being in a video game, Alice in Wonderland, and the Twilight Zone all in one!  I had never seen a floor plan like that.  It seemed every where I turned there were stairs and ramps, both inclining and declining.

My colleague at Pearl River Community  College, Aleta Sullivan, invited me to speak for Delta Kappa Gamma, of which she is a member.  It is a professional honorary society of women educators and promotes professional and personal growth of its members and excellence in education.  Aleta and her sister spoke before me and gave a wonderfully entertaining, informative, and helpful talk on the uses of Google and its add-ons.  You may be wondering what women soldiers in the Civil War have to do with Google, but, as I mentioned earlier, I keep all of my files on Google Drive.  So our talks weren't totally unrelated.  As a matter of fact, it it weren't for Google Drive, there would have been no presentation on women soldiers.  Well, I would have been able to wing it with an off-the-cuff talk or used Aleta's Chrome Book.  But it wouldn't have been as good.

This conference was on a very strict schedule, so I would not be able to deliver the full version of my talk.  I had cut some out but was still worried.  It was going to be challenging to make sure I didn't get long winded.  The look I have in the picture is my game face because I didn't want the lady holding the clip board to cut me off!

So I hadn't even spoken five words when I heard someone in the crowd complain they couldn't hear.  Since I had been suffering from allergies and a scratchy throat, my teacher voice just wasn't responding to my volume control.  So off I dashed to the back of the room where I kept my equipment in order to get my mic.  All I could hear was the ticking of the clock in my head as I got everything clipped on and when I mashed the power button.......feedback, and it seemed no matter where I moved, the offensive, screeching, squealing sound bellowed forth.  Mark, in the back of the room, kept signalling me to move as if he were landing an airplane.  I just shrugged because I didn't know what else to do.  I simply couldn't move over.  It finally settled down.

My concern for time was lessened when an entire slide and part of another one just decided against making an appearance altogether.  I was doing last-minute edits the night before and accidentally deleted one and failed to check the animation settings on the other.  I hate it when I make mistakes like that.  Thankfully, they generally don't detract too much from the presentation and I'm able to roll with it.  Other than that, I think the talk went well.  Mark and I were able to finish just a couple of minutes over.  There wasn't really a question and answer session as most had to rush off to the next session.  I had a few stay and talk for a little while.  One of whom was the mother of a girl with whom I attended high school.  I'm amazed with all of the folks with whom I've been able to reconnect during my travels and talks!

I'm very thankful to Aleta for asking me to be a part of this year's state convention.  It truly is an honor.  I'm going to miss her when she retires at the end of this semester.