Thing 15: Attending, Presenting At & Organising Seminars, Conferences & Other Events

I've attended a number of conferences in Ireland. Unfortunately INULS has now bit the dust. Thank you recession! For conferences in general I tend not to think of approaching bodies for funding or bursaries. Of course if no one did this would the funding opportunities still be made available?

Seminars are still going strong. Mostly because they're loss costly for the various institutions, be it hosting or sending someone, and accommodation is rarely needed. I've found them a good way to get an overview a particular area or if the focus is particularly sharp to get an in-depth instruction in a particular section.

For Special Collections most of the courses I attend are held in the British Library which does necessitate travel. Of course it's nearly as easy to travel to London as it is to Dublin.

As part of my work I've assisted curation of exhibitions on Dineen who compiled the first Irish-English dictionary and on Ulysses which left copyright earlier this year.

For all of these it's been useful to meet new people, new ways of doing things, knowing what resources are in the locale or further afield, reconnecting with people I knew already but have lost touch with for one reason and another. It can be hard to connect with people and so often it's over alcohol which is fine in small amounts but not otherwise. Now the recession has us all drinking tea, has to be Barrys and never Lyons. I guess as part of my new job I'll be getting business cards. I already have the business card holder, forward thinking on my part, especially when I may not have anywhere to go!

I enjoyed reading Devora Zack's book on Networking. Thank you Jo Alcock for recommending it!

I don't mind speaking in front of crowd as I trained as a teacher. I always find that it's easier to speak to people who don't want you to fail, not that school students do but all the same. I was at a seminar recently on effective presentations and in pair work the other said something I knew already: "You move your hands too much." Note to self find something to do with hands. Having a lectern is easy but then it can add a barrier between you and whoever the audience is.

In relation to presentations I read Ned Potter's posts thoroughly on being prepared. I practiced everywhere so I knew how and what I wanted to say but until I gave an actual run-through of the presentation to an actual audience I found that the words came out wrong: pyrotechnic against fibre-optic (bit of a difference!) and the time ran over hugely. It's not enough to practice segments while shelving, you have to practise it all. Eventually the time limit came down but that took practice too. Still it's as I was taught as a young un: if something is worth doing, it's worth doing well or do it right the first time!