Tagged: Speaking
TEDxWinnipeg photo essay
- by Alyson Shane
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.
My TEDx Speaking Experience, Part I
- by Alyson Shane
(Image via TEDxWinnipeg)
Recently I announced that I had been selected as a speaker at this year's TEDxWinnipeg event. This was amazing news to share, but prior to applying to speak I had a lot of unanswered questions:
What was the application process like?
What would happen if I was selected as a speaker?
How would I prepare to deliver my talk in front of a room full of hundreds of people?
What kinds of supports were in place to help me hone my talk and meet TEDx standards?
... and so on. The questions seemed endless.
With this in mind, I was thrilled when the TEDxWinnipeg social team contacted me and asked if I'd be interested in a series of posts about my experience. As a writer and a advocate of knowledge-sharing, this felt like the perfect opportunity to share what I'm learning as I go through this process, as well as the challenges and hurdles come with being selected to speak at a TEDx event.
Below is an exert from my first post in the series:
I’m a writer, and I own a digital marketing agency, so I spend a lot of time thinking about how people interact online. I’ve also been deeply influenced by the people I’ve met online throughout my life, and wanted to speak to those experiences and share them with the audience.
That being said, a good talk isn’t just about telling your own story; it’s about sharing information and ideas with your audience, so I made sure that my talk also focused on the positive power of digital communities in broader, less personal examples, as well. Because while a compelling story is great, a good TEDx talk needs to also introduce an idea or concept, because the talks are about sharing ideas, not just stories.
Check out the rest of my blog post about being a TEDxWinnipeg speaker here.
Still on a bit of a high since MBlog
- by admin
aka the New Media Manitoba Blogger's Conferenceaka #NMMBlog
aka that panel I spoke at on the Friday night with the James Hope Howard, Liz Hover, and Colin Fast aka @policyfrog.
It was also MC'd by my buddy Kenton Larsen -hello!
We fielded the usual questions -where we can be found online, our thoughts on the future of blogging, etc
(Liz got into a heated debate with one of the audience members as you can see in the photo)
Overall it went pretty well.
The crowd was fantastic & engaged and I feel like we covered some really interesting and relevant topics.
I just wish we'd had more time -panels always start to get good right towards the end, don't they? That's when everyone gets fired up!
I had to jet to a million other things that night so I couldn't stick around, but I managed to make it to the daytime event the next day in time to catch Liz's interview with The Bloggess, who was even more charming and clever in person than on her blog which I didn't think was possible.
I sat with my homie James and we took dumb photos. Obviously.
It was really cool & inspiring to see local people talk about their experiences and share their stories, and to put faces to so many avatars and profiles that I've creeped online for so long. It was a fantastic day and I feel so honoured to have been asked to be a part of it!
Biggest thanks go out to Alison Kirkland from the Women's Enterprise Centre of Manitoba, Kathy Driscoll of New Media Manitoba, and of course the dear Kenton Larsen for having me!
xox yr Shaner
