Last week I taught a one-night course on blogging, and I’ve been psyched about the course since, oh, November. Plenty of time to prepare, right?
In theory, yes.
I put together several pages of handouts and bookmarked lots of blogging resources to share. I even lugged my laptop over there two days early so I could test-drive the projection equipment and make sure that everything was running smoothly. I still occasionally have flashbacks of the multimedia presentation I botched in college speech class, and there was no way I wanted to repeat that experience.
Then I showed up a few minutes early the night of my class and discovered that I was assigned to a different classroom and a different projector. The outlets were all in different spots and the projector had different buttons. I plugged it into my computer and held my breath. No signal. I pressed a few buttons and restarted my computer. Nothing changed.
Then I asked for help downstairs, but they said it must be a problem with my computer. Uh, thanks… Not wanting to waste the entire 2.5 hours obsessing over an AV issue, I asked my class to gather round my laptop and we’d improvise. I must have hit the wrong key, because my keyboard got stuck on number lock.
Forty minutes into my presentation, someone delivered the correct projector, but it only magnified the fact that I couldn’t type and was too frazzled to find the button that would undo number lock (it’s obvious to me now).
After class, I met some friends for a (much-needed) white chocolate martini and they regaled me with their stories of projectors gone awry. I had no idea this was so common! Ever since my college speech professor humiliated me in front of about twenty other students, I thought I was the only moron in the world who couldn’t work an LCD projector. Apparently, I’m not. Thank goodness!
The next day, I got an email from a student thanking me for the presentation. I also got a package in the mail with a special cord I’d ordered so I could hook up my laptop to my TV. It plugs into the same port as a projector, so I figured I’d spend my Friday night in another fit of frustration. Great. But at least nobody else would be there to witness it. I plugged in my laptop, closed my eyes, and said a silent prayer to the tech Gods. The silly thing worked on the first try.
I so know that story – I used to be organise events and work in education and have pretty much vandalised every kind of projector-computer combo you can name! And like you usually after it had all worked perfectly without an audience. Better luck next time!
Thanks, Niamh! At least the experience proved that I’m not the only one. And next time I will get their earlier and insist on using the projector that recognizes my computer.
I think we all have bad presentation stories. I had an boss once who called them “the other shoe”. It was his word for presentations that just did not want to move forward. Either by the computer-projector problem or handouts vanishing.
Then there was the time he got into an auto accident on the way to work, and had to walk me through his presentation to hire ups.
As time passes, you will see the humor in it, then start to share it as an ice breaker during your next presentation.
Well, after you taught your class I got an e-mail from one of your students – so your improvisation worked. Thank you for sharing my link!
Hi Susan,
I haven’t had this experience … thankfully. However I’ll float these ideas to you and let you decide if they may possibly work for you.
Bring your own projector (and have your bf carry it in for you).
Have your own geek who is well-versed in all the latest AV technologies at your disposal so he/she can troubleshoot any potential problems.
Have a written agreement with the people who set up the course that certain facilities and equipment are to be furnished to you for your course.
Just some hindsight ideas in a perfect world.
Mark
@Jenny: That’s great! I’d already planned to show them your site as an example of how some bloggers/writers use an avatar instead of a photo (although you use both). Then somebody asked how people incorporate a blog into their website, and yours is a great example of that, too.
@Mark: I hadn’t thought about bringing my own projector, since those things can be pretty expensive, but now that you mention it, that might be a worthwhile investment. Plus, I could write it off as a business expense.
Ha, I just got my written evaluations and more students were bothered by the drumming class next door than the tech issues. Frankly, I didn’t even notice the drumming class. Go figure.