Two conferences this summer, both in June. I have attended the TCEA Virtual conference for the 2 previous summers, and I really enjoyed it both times. It fuses two of my passions, the library and technology.
The other conference came as a complete surprise. The library coordinator from Region 10 asked me to present at their virtual summer conference and their fall conference. She was interested in seeing the presentation I did for Region 11 . . . "Prepping Your Library, One Year at a Time." I don't mind repeating a presentation, but I am always conscious of making sure I don't use the exact same slides every time. The library is more fluid than that, and things happen from one year to the next. Although I did not have to create this presentation from scratch, I made sure to add or take away items as appropriate to reflect this year.
For TCEA, I did create that one from scratch. It was actual inspired by "Prepping Your Library." There was just SO MUCH information in that particular presentation. I decided to take just a part of that presentation, passive programing. In doing so, I am able to give the programs more time. Instead of just a passing mention, I can go into each one and explain how and when I use them. Therefore, the TCEA presentation became "Nobody's Got Time for That: Passive Programming for Students & Staff."
I believe both presentation went smoothly. With it being virtual, you can't really gage the faces in your audience. So it's like flying blind. After each presentation, I received a lot of "thank yous" and a few questions. They sounded engaged to me.
I will be remixing both of these presentations for the next school year, and this time they will be in person. I will be talking about "Prepping Your Library" again in September for the Region 10 Library Conference on September 11th. And then *fingers crossed* I submitted "Nobody's Got Time for That" to both the state TCEA conference in February and the TLA conference in April. Only time will tell.
