Last Friday, I co-presented at the Michigan Library Association's Applied Technology and Trends conference held at the UM Hatcher Graduate Library. This was a great experience, where I had the opportunity to create a presentation with a colleague with whom I'd never presented and practice my presentation skills.
On June 8, I will be presenting with a different colleague on a different topic at the eCornucopia conference at nearby Oakland University. I'm realizing that preparing for and presenting is a great experience, but that it also takes a good deal of time. Creating a presentation outline, getting that onto slides, making the slides more creative, practicing, and getting all of the collaborative pieces in place is a great way to learn and prepare, but it is also very consuming.
I'm finding similarities between presenting and instructing in the sense that there is always more to learn and that the presentation can always be improved. Light-hearted comments during the presentation can illicit positive or no response; attending to those is important if the presentation is going to be given again. Audience response at the end, and the amount of questions asked can provide clues into what would be better to focus on or what was particularly interesting to participants.
It's these observations I'll take as I move into my June 8 presentation. The conference session covers creativity and drive (our power words) and so we better make our presentation creative, and interactive. These are the new challenges I'll face while preparing for this conference.
Exciting and time-consuming... a good balance to have as I begin to prepare for the next phase of my educational and professional journey as August nears...
Enjoy your Memorial Day weekend!
Showing posts with label conferences. Show all posts
Showing posts with label conferences. Show all posts
Friday, May 25, 2012
Thursday, May 17, 2012
The Biggest Presentation of My Life
If you've been reading, you know it's been a busy few weeks after teaching two Enriching Scholarship sessions last week, and preparing for what I'm calling the biggest presentation of my life this past Tuesday. Oh, and there's the MLA Technology and Trends Conference presentation tomorrow.
But, this week's post will focus on the biggest presentation of my life. The presentation was the culmination of my 18-month internship experience at the University of Michigan Library as the University Library Associate in the Knowledge Navigation Center. More specifically, the 15-minute presentation discussed my second year project at the Detroit Center where I helped set up meetings, created a Library Research Guide, and laid the groundwork for the collaborative initiative between the UM Library and the Detroit Center.
I have never worked so hard on a presentation. To be honest, for most class presentations, I'd outline my presentation in a Google Doc, then copy, paste and edit the text into PowerPoint. I'd maybe add an image or two, but then I'd read it over, practice maybe once, and give a decent presentation. However, since this was what I considered to be the biggest presentation of my life, I did quite a bit more work, and I think it paid off.
First, I worked to find images that represented my ideas so that I could decrease the amount of text, or remove it all together. This was both fun and meaningful, as I realized that a picture can be worth 1000 words, and that the words were more beneficial to my remembering what to say, than to the audience. Consequently, I realized that if I practiced enough, I didn't need the words on the screen to remind me what to say. What a revelation that was....
Secondly, I practiced. I practiced alone, in front of others -- edited -- alone again -- edited -- one-on-one -- edited -- and then had my supervisor review my presentation -- and edited again. Lots and lots of reviewing, tweaking, editing. And I was still nervous! I had notes printed below my slides, but.... when I got in front of the 60+ library staff members, I found I knew what I was talking about. Not only did I work on the project for 15 or so weeks (and thus, knew what I'd done) but the countless hours I put into the presentation had caused me to know my stuff. Nervous at first, I found that by the end of the short presentation and during the Q & A, I was comfortable speaking and answering questions from the audience.
It was a great lesson learned that putting the greatest amount of work into the biggest presentation of my life was a good idea. And I learned that its much more fun for me, and constructive to the audience, if I add images and edit both the ideas and structure of the presentation. Finally, and this lesson - no matter how many times I learn it - is most important to me... the work is never done and I can always improve what I'm doing. And that is relevant for anything.
You can check out the presentation here, on my website (it's the first bullet).
But, this week's post will focus on the biggest presentation of my life. The presentation was the culmination of my 18-month internship experience at the University of Michigan Library as the University Library Associate in the Knowledge Navigation Center. More specifically, the 15-minute presentation discussed my second year project at the Detroit Center where I helped set up meetings, created a Library Research Guide, and laid the groundwork for the collaborative initiative between the UM Library and the Detroit Center.
I have never worked so hard on a presentation. To be honest, for most class presentations, I'd outline my presentation in a Google Doc, then copy, paste and edit the text into PowerPoint. I'd maybe add an image or two, but then I'd read it over, practice maybe once, and give a decent presentation. However, since this was what I considered to be the biggest presentation of my life, I did quite a bit more work, and I think it paid off.
First, I worked to find images that represented my ideas so that I could decrease the amount of text, or remove it all together. This was both fun and meaningful, as I realized that a picture can be worth 1000 words, and that the words were more beneficial to my remembering what to say, than to the audience. Consequently, I realized that if I practiced enough, I didn't need the words on the screen to remind me what to say. What a revelation that was....
Secondly, I practiced. I practiced alone, in front of others -- edited -- alone again -- edited -- one-on-one -- edited -- and then had my supervisor review my presentation -- and edited again. Lots and lots of reviewing, tweaking, editing. And I was still nervous! I had notes printed below my slides, but.... when I got in front of the 60+ library staff members, I found I knew what I was talking about. Not only did I work on the project for 15 or so weeks (and thus, knew what I'd done) but the countless hours I put into the presentation had caused me to know my stuff. Nervous at first, I found that by the end of the short presentation and during the Q & A, I was comfortable speaking and answering questions from the audience.
It was a great lesson learned that putting the greatest amount of work into the biggest presentation of my life was a good idea. And I learned that its much more fun for me, and constructive to the audience, if I add images and edit both the ideas and structure of the presentation. Finally, and this lesson - no matter how many times I learn it - is most important to me... the work is never done and I can always improve what I'm doing. And that is relevant for anything.
You can check out the presentation here, on my website (it's the first bullet).
Monday, March 26, 2012
Lesson Learned: Taking Opportunities
Today was quite a day. Both the School of Information (SI) Networking Fair and the SI ExpoSItion (which I wrote about last week) were held as part of SI's amazing opportunities for students to broaden their job networks and increase their presentation skills. Last year, I did not participate in either the Networking Fair or the ExpoSItion. I can't remember why, but I didn't. When the chance to do both came around again this spring, I quickly decided both events were opportunities in which I wanted to take part.
I went into the Networking Fair with an apprehensive attitude. I'm not graduating from the School of Education until December, so while I will have my MSI next month (whoa!) I'm probably not "officially" on the job market until winter 2012. I gathered my Employer Booklet and went straight to a university library table where I already had contacts. The chat went well and I left having met yet another person at that library. Yay :)
The second table I chose to go to was that of another large research university in Michigan, where I've had little contact. However, I quickly learned that the employers were very interested in my current line of study, my skills, and my background. It didn't take much (except friendliness and preparedness on my part) and I walked away with the Library Director's email address and an offer to visit them after graduation.
I went into the Networking Fair expecting very little and left with a lesson that is invaluable. There were few libraries at the Fair, and of those, I knew people at all but one. All but the one that I walked away from with a chance to network further. This helped me learn the lesson that I learned today. Take the opportunities that are presented to you. It is as simple as that. Go into opportunities with an open mind, be prepared to present yourself as well as you possibly can, and take some chances. If I had not gone to the Fair, which would have been very easy, I would NOT have expanded my networking circle or met the people who are going to give me yet another opportunity.
This same lesson applies to the ExpoSItion. I went to the ExpoSItion thinking that most of the other projects would be much more interesting than my group's library research project (because frankly, many of the projects at the ExpoSItion are created by designers who do cool, interesting things and make their posters look really pretty). But I was busy talking to guests at the ExpoSItion almost the entire time. People were interested in our project, and commented on the poster's design. Without taking that chance, I never would have created a poster all on my own, learned that you don't mount your poster before getting to the conference, or met people who wanted to hear about what we were doing.
This lesson is something to carry with me - when someone gives me an opportunity to do something, take it. I simply never could have imagined all of the great things that happened today, and they wouldn't have happened if I didn't take the chances that were presented.
I went into the Networking Fair with an apprehensive attitude. I'm not graduating from the School of Education until December, so while I will have my MSI next month (whoa!) I'm probably not "officially" on the job market until winter 2012. I gathered my Employer Booklet and went straight to a university library table where I already had contacts. The chat went well and I left having met yet another person at that library. Yay :)
The second table I chose to go to was that of another large research university in Michigan, where I've had little contact. However, I quickly learned that the employers were very interested in my current line of study, my skills, and my background. It didn't take much (except friendliness and preparedness on my part) and I walked away with the Library Director's email address and an offer to visit them after graduation.
I went into the Networking Fair expecting very little and left with a lesson that is invaluable. There were few libraries at the Fair, and of those, I knew people at all but one. All but the one that I walked away from with a chance to network further. This helped me learn the lesson that I learned today. Take the opportunities that are presented to you. It is as simple as that. Go into opportunities with an open mind, be prepared to present yourself as well as you possibly can, and take some chances. If I had not gone to the Fair, which would have been very easy, I would NOT have expanded my networking circle or met the people who are going to give me yet another opportunity.
This same lesson applies to the ExpoSItion. I went to the ExpoSItion thinking that most of the other projects would be much more interesting than my group's library research project (because frankly, many of the projects at the ExpoSItion are created by designers who do cool, interesting things and make their posters look really pretty). But I was busy talking to guests at the ExpoSItion almost the entire time. People were interested in our project, and commented on the poster's design. Without taking that chance, I never would have created a poster all on my own, learned that you don't mount your poster before getting to the conference, or met people who wanted to hear about what we were doing.
This lesson is something to carry with me - when someone gives me an opportunity to do something, take it. I simply never could have imagined all of the great things that happened today, and they wouldn't have happened if I didn't take the chances that were presented.
Monday, January 23, 2012
A Student Unconference
Last Saturday I attended Quasi-Con, an "unconference" developed from the ground up by my classmates at the School of Information. It was so exciting to see my future colleagues in action - sharing information in an open, interesting way. (That's what libraries do, right?)
Quasi-Con began with small group brainstorming sessions to tease out topics which were both relevant and interesting to participants. The next part of the conference focused on sessions based off these brainstorming ideas. The conference developers really gave the conference participants a chance to discuss and dig into library-related issues about which they are passionate. What a great way to engage everyone!
In the afternoon, Quasi-Con featured presentations from speakers who'd signed up in advance. Some presentations were 15-minute talks about disaster planning or the Occupy Wall Street library, others were panels on thinking about how your prior jobs (like being a trail guide) could apply to being a librarian.
The entire conference was creative, innovative, informative, and inclusive. It was extremely fantastic to see my classmates produce such an awesome event. Check out the http://quasicon2012.wordpress.com/ website for more information!
Quasi-Con began with small group brainstorming sessions to tease out topics which were both relevant and interesting to participants. The next part of the conference focused on sessions based off these brainstorming ideas. The conference developers really gave the conference participants a chance to discuss and dig into library-related issues about which they are passionate. What a great way to engage everyone!
In the afternoon, Quasi-Con featured presentations from speakers who'd signed up in advance. Some presentations were 15-minute talks about disaster planning or the Occupy Wall Street library, others were panels on thinking about how your prior jobs (like being a trail guide) could apply to being a librarian.
The entire conference was creative, innovative, informative, and inclusive. It was extremely fantastic to see my classmates produce such an awesome event. Check out the http://quasicon2012.wordpress.com/ website for more information!
Thursday, December 8, 2011
The Changing World of Academia
Last Thursday, I attended the HASTAC pre-conference on alternative jobs in academia. I wasn't sure what I was getting myself into, but the workshop was definitely a learning experience. It turns out, the pre-conference workshop was primarily populated by Ph.D. students in the humanities, arts, and sciences fields who were considering professional jobs in academia because they either did not want, or were not sure they could get, tenure-track positions. Now, I am not a Ph.D. student, nor do I have plans to become one, so the tone of the conference initially threw me off.
Then I started thinking about how this workshop would end up affecting higher education in general. What I deducted was that jobs in administration, and actually all over academia, could become more competitive with more Ph.D's applying for non-tenure-track jobs. At first, it seemed having a bachelor's degree would allow one to get jobs in higher education. Then I realized to do what I wanted to do (become a librarian, or obtain another position in higher education) would require a Master's degree. Having found two master's programs by which I was enthused (Information and Higher Education), I thought I would have a very good chance at contending for jobs in my areas of interest. Now it's occurring to me that those jobs may increasingly become more competitive due to people with even higher degrees applying.
It's just something to ponder - and not something I'm necessarily worried about. I still believe that my degrees are valuable - and those degrees do not even display my work experience or service to the community. But, it was eye-opening to realize that higher education is rapidly changing (at the conference I heard there were something like 600 jobs for every 1000 Ph.D's). It just reminded me that it's important to stay on top of what's going on in my fields and that it's important to continue to think to the future - the future that is evolving very quickly.
Then I started thinking about how this workshop would end up affecting higher education in general. What I deducted was that jobs in administration, and actually all over academia, could become more competitive with more Ph.D's applying for non-tenure-track jobs. At first, it seemed having a bachelor's degree would allow one to get jobs in higher education. Then I realized to do what I wanted to do (become a librarian, or obtain another position in higher education) would require a Master's degree. Having found two master's programs by which I was enthused (Information and Higher Education), I thought I would have a very good chance at contending for jobs in my areas of interest. Now it's occurring to me that those jobs may increasingly become more competitive due to people with even higher degrees applying.
It's just something to ponder - and not something I'm necessarily worried about. I still believe that my degrees are valuable - and those degrees do not even display my work experience or service to the community. But, it was eye-opening to realize that higher education is rapidly changing (at the conference I heard there were something like 600 jobs for every 1000 Ph.D's). It just reminded me that it's important to stay on top of what's going on in my fields and that it's important to continue to think to the future - the future that is evolving very quickly.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Just had to write... a great professional trip to Chicago!
So I went to Chicago yesterday - train left at 7:30am, and I took the train back, returning into Ann Arbor at 12:00am. A long, long day. But a good one; my time there couldn't have been better spent.
I had the opportunity to present at the Educause Midwest Regional Conference, held at the InterContinental Hotel right down town. My supervisor at the library and I participated in a poster session, where we displayed a poster we'd created and talked to people about it's contents. Our poster was on assessment of handouts that we provide at the Knowledge Navigation Center, Faculty Exploratory and Tech Deck. We complete four focus groups earlier in the term to evaluate how people learn new technology and what they like and dislike about the handouts we currently provide. Of course, the like the longer handout, but want a shorter handout, videos, an interactive handout, and activities. Needless to say, this was the first phase of our research.
It was interesting, because during the hour-long poster session I learned several things. First, I learned more about our project, just by talking about it and answering questions. I was able to better synthesize what we'd actually done and what we could do in the future. Second, I learned that not a lot of others have done this sort of assessment of their materials. To me, it seemed a fairly small task - a few focus groups and analyzing a fairly small amount of data, but it's just something that people haven't done. Finally, I learned what it was like to be at a conference. I was a bit nervous at first, but found the whole experience to be great professional development.
After our session, I traveled down to the Harold Washington Library YouMedia Center I had a chance to see not only a big, beautiful, old public library (which, ahem, needs to do research on how it uses it's huge amount of space), but also a youth media center in action. And wow, what a place. The walls are a bright green, there are flat screens on every wall, a young librarian (a 2008 SI grad) was working with some boys on redesigning and creating their youth center blog while another set of kids practiced their spoken word and recorded music. IN THE LIBRARY. This reconfirmed my beliefs that public libraries not only have to redefine themselves, but can and should. The YouMedia Center was one of the most lively places I've ever seen and kids actually want to be there. In my mind, this should be a model for other public libraries who are "fighting to survive." This place isn't just surviving, it's thriving. And your library can do this too... the MacArthur Foundation and the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) are scaling this up, and offering an RFP that will end up funding 30 libraries nationwide. They see the value in sustainable, progressive public libraries, and they're showing it can be done.
It was so inspiring to see this and it gave me a lot of hope for our profession if we are willing to be creative, step outside the box, help people think about libraries differently, and make this change happen.
I had the opportunity to present at the Educause Midwest Regional Conference, held at the InterContinental Hotel right down town. My supervisor at the library and I participated in a poster session, where we displayed a poster we'd created and talked to people about it's contents. Our poster was on assessment of handouts that we provide at the Knowledge Navigation Center, Faculty Exploratory and Tech Deck. We complete four focus groups earlier in the term to evaluate how people learn new technology and what they like and dislike about the handouts we currently provide. Of course, the like the longer handout, but want a shorter handout, videos, an interactive handout, and activities. Needless to say, this was the first phase of our research.
It was interesting, because during the hour-long poster session I learned several things. First, I learned more about our project, just by talking about it and answering questions. I was able to better synthesize what we'd actually done and what we could do in the future. Second, I learned that not a lot of others have done this sort of assessment of their materials. To me, it seemed a fairly small task - a few focus groups and analyzing a fairly small amount of data, but it's just something that people haven't done. Finally, I learned what it was like to be at a conference. I was a bit nervous at first, but found the whole experience to be great professional development.
After our session, I traveled down to the Harold Washington Library YouMedia Center I had a chance to see not only a big, beautiful, old public library (which, ahem, needs to do research on how it uses it's huge amount of space), but also a youth media center in action. And wow, what a place. The walls are a bright green, there are flat screens on every wall, a young librarian (a 2008 SI grad) was working with some boys on redesigning and creating their youth center blog while another set of kids practiced their spoken word and recorded music. IN THE LIBRARY. This reconfirmed my beliefs that public libraries not only have to redefine themselves, but can and should. The YouMedia Center was one of the most lively places I've ever seen and kids actually want to be there. In my mind, this should be a model for other public libraries who are "fighting to survive." This place isn't just surviving, it's thriving. And your library can do this too... the MacArthur Foundation and the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) are scaling this up, and offering an RFP that will end up funding 30 libraries nationwide. They see the value in sustainable, progressive public libraries, and they're showing it can be done.
It was so inspiring to see this and it gave me a lot of hope for our profession if we are willing to be creative, step outside the box, help people think about libraries differently, and make this change happen.
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