First Solo Presentation

The purpose of this post to document a milestone in my career!

I presented by myself at a national conference AND it was the first time I was "first author" - both of which are goals I have been working towards for a few years now.

C and I planned to drive to Atlanta yesterday morning, but the weather had other plans.  Thanks to winter storm "Thor," we ended up leaving Wednesday night after I got home from class.  (Side note - I find it ridiculous that we're naming winter storms now.)

We drove to Raleigh, arrived at the hotel around 2:30 am, slept for a while, and were back on the road at 9:30 am, heading to Atlanta.

Once we arrived, we checked in to the conference hotel and I checked in for the conference.  I spent the remainder of the evening doing homework and preparing for my presentation, while C watched "House of Cards."  Not the most exciting Thursday night we've ever had, but I did get a lot of work done!

My presentation was at 11:30 am yesterday and it really went quite well!  I was a little nervous, but once I began the presentation, I forgot all about being nervous and just focused on the task at hand.  It didn't hurt that right before my presentation, I had a flurry of texts wishing me luck, which bolstered my confidence.  I am so lucky to have such awesome people in my life!

I had 30 people attend, which may not seem like a lot, but was pretty much a full house.  To compare, at the presentation I did in Orlando last month with two professors, we had 16 people attend and we were thrilled.  So 30 was a pretty big deal for me!

The audience asked some good questions and I had several people chat with me afterwards.  Some of the very kind feedback included that the presentation was great because it was informative, well-organized, and that I had a natural, easy-going manner of speaking.  In all honesty, I was relieved to hear this because when I'm presenting, I worry about sounding like I'm tripping over my words or that I don't know what I'm talking about.  So that comment was really reassuring!

When I met C in the lobby of the hotel after I was done, I could not stop smiling - partly because It was done and I didn't have to think about it anymore, and partly because it went better than I had even hoped!

I look forward to opportunity to do more presentations at conferences in the future, and it feels great to have this first solo one under my belt!

Happy Tails to you!