As stated in a previous blog, this past Friday I and several of my colleagues presented on a panel at the Minnesota Colleges Universities English and Writing conference on “The Multimodal Classroom: Old Lesson Plans in New Ways.” This was my first conference. I don’t mean to build any anticipation or suspense, so I will just say right now: I didn’t vomit. The entire experience was actually quite enjoyable. I was a bit nervous, slightly tense—but everything was peachy.
The panel consisted of five SCSU TA’s (including me); we presented on our experiences renovating classroom lesson plans through the use of various modes (technology, literature, etc.). We had one hour to present, which gave us each about ten minutes. Unfortunately, we all went over by a minute or two and resulted in having very little time for questions.
I was surprised by how many people attended our panel; from what I’ve heard from other conferences, some presenters speak to only five or so guests. We had eighteen. I didn’t have enough handouts: what a great problem. It was alright though; some of the folks in the crowd were from SCSU, so we cheated them out of theirs and told them if they wanted a handout to e-mail us after the conference.
The food was average. As we approached the doors, I swore I smelled fish. Then the realization hit me. Lent. Friday. I hate fish. Oh no. But much to my stomach’s delight, there was no fish dish. An oriental entrée, salad bar, and deli bar fortified by desserts-a-plenty made the lunch rather enjoyable (even though it was catered, I believe, by the food service from the U of MN). And to complement the culinary reception, there were soda fountains around every corner and an ice cream bar freezer (all free) that we found after our panel was over. Jackpot!
Overall, I’d have to say that the experience was great. Aside from the short notice on our acceptance, the conference was a success (for me, anyways; and probably my colleagues): ten minute presentations were quite relaxed to prepare for—especially since mine was based off my blogs here—and the drive was just down to the cities. It’s difficult to ask for more when trying to build a CV.
On a side note: while at the gym Saturday, watching the History Channel, I saw a preview for a new show "Deadly Weapons" that quoted World of Warcraft! I have to believe the quote was intentional, it would be far too coincidental otherwise. I'm not sure I'd call the History Channel mainstream, but there definitely seems to be a lot more popular exposure to niche culture gaming recently.
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