Conference prep

Have been working at home today, putting the finishing touches on my presentations. It’s been really difficult to find stretches of uninterrupted time at work – I can not log in to email, and take the phone off the hook, but I can’t stop people popping in to “just have a chat” or stopping me while I’m on my way to grab a sandwich to eat at my desk, to ask if I can help them with whatever, “when you’ve finished your lunch”. It’s nice to be so needed, but sometimes it gets in the way a bit…

Both presentations are mostly done, I think. I’ve never been one to rehearse any presentations endlessly, because I just make myself anxious when I do this. I tend to prefer to make sure I have some clear notes and know how I want things to flow, without being too concerned about saying the exact thing at the exact time. Then, once I have a good idea of what I’m going to say and in what sequence I try not to think about it too much until the day. Otherwise the low-key awareness that I’m going to have stand and talk to a small group of my colleagues… a lecture hall of 400 students… or an audience of librarians from all over the country… starts to work on itself and becomes a full-blown anxiety.

Next week is going to be pretty busy, I think. Apart from the conference itself (my presentations are next Friday) there are going to be many visitors coming to the library, and I’m going to be meeting a few librarian bloggers as well (Hi Tom and Sarah! Hi Isaak!).

Any other visitors want to meet up? Feel free to email me (flexnib at g mail dot com) or wave if you spot me (does this picture, above, help?)!