June 7, 2017

Yesterday was TEDxWinnipeg.

It was amazing. It was a whirlwind. It was so much more than my tired, fried-out brain can describe right now.

Instead, here's a photo essay:

Of course I woke up at 4:45AM

a full hour before my alarm was supposed to go off

as evidenced by my unimpressed post-shower face (was I even awake then?)

Much better.

Does that look like the face of a girl who got 5hrs sleep? I hope not.

Luckily I was able to pull myself together within a reasonable time frame.

Winnipeg looked gorgeous during my bike ride to the convention centre, of course.

I left a bit early so I could bike there slowly and collect my thoughts and feelings

and to try and get in a little "me time" before a whirlwind day.

I got there for 7:15AM and the space was largely empty except for the volunteers and organizers running around getting everything ready.

We took a bunch of group shots of all the speakers, organizers, tech peeps, and etc before the crowds started milling in, and then it was ready to go!

There were a bunch of fun activities for guests to do, including this fun board which I kept coming back to look at throughout the day.

I was busy as heck, but I managed to squeeze in a few selfies with some lovely people before the day got started.

TEDxWinnipeg people unite!

That's me with Ed, Mike, and Dr. Joel above, and Rana and I below:

This guy was an amazing support, of course.

Halfway through the morning Brent pulled me aside to let me know he had something for me:

It was a vintage AOL trial disc! Anyone remember these?

My talk touched on my high school years spent using the "Trial" button on our NetZero install because my parents refused to pay to get dial-up internet at home (don't even get me started on that gong show), so this little trinket was super thoughtful and hilarious. Thanks so much, Brent!

(Side note: I'm so thankful for high speed internet)

Then it was back into the swing of things.

I spent most of my day with two of my fellow presenters, Jon and Andrea, hanging out, watching the talks, rehearsing together, and trying not to be too nervous about everything.

I spent a lot of time in the green room backstage, but I made sure to make it into the crowd for Jon and Rana's talks. We'd spent so much time rehearsing together that I really needed to be in the crowd to experience their talks.

Spoiler alert: they both knocked it out of the park. I was in tears!

Before I knew it, it was my turn to present.

Photos via Heather Hinam, Doug McArthur, and The Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce.

What can I say about speaking?

It was intense. It was exhilarating. It was fun and stressful and amazing.

I was nervous leading up to my talk and was so worried that I was going to forget something, or flub my lines, or, well... anything!

But I'm pleased to say that I nailed it. I did better than I could have expected and I'll be sharing more thoughts on my experience in an upcoming post for the TEDxWinnipeg website (so stay tuned for that).

Then it was over!

I posed for a few quick snaps at the end of the day (this is my speaker buddy, Amanda, who was an incredible help and support throughout the entire process) before heading out.

I was utterly wiped after such an emotional, busy, and exhilarating day.

(But not too tired to go for pizza and drinks at my favourite local pizza joint Super Deluxe Pizza.)

Now if you'll excuse me I need to go and sleep for a week.

Want more info about my TEDxWinnipeg expeirence? Check out my blog post series on the TEDxWinnipeg website what it was like to be selected as a speaker, and preparing to present my talk.

Update: the TEDxWinnipeg live stream is still up! My talk is around 3:20:10 in the 'Afternoon Talks' section.