Out in front

Two days ago I was asked to demo an application I developed at our next Department meeting, which was this morning. Thirty minutes before-hand my boss disclosed that she had edited (severely) my Powerpoint presentation, removing at least one key slide. I smiled and said I really needed that slide, haha, let me tell you why, and could you please add it back? It turns out she had removed it because she didn't like the background color. Ain't that somethin'?

I decided to follow her upstairs to the enormous meeting hall where our meeting would be conducted so I could review the slides beforehand. Twenty minutes until showtime, and the person who was supposed to have a laptop set up is just getting there. So I amused myself by looking out of the enormous floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking Piedmont Park and Midtown. What a view! I could see all the way to Stone Mountain, the Georgia Dome, and the Georgia Aquarium, and all the way up Peachtree Street, past the Fox Theatre.

The room we were in was built for teleconferencing, with two enormous remote-controlled screens extending from the ceiling on either side of the speaker's podium, and video cameras built into the walls. The cameras are supposed to automatically track audio (i.e. automatically point at whoever is speaking), but I don't think they ever got that working. During a meeting one screen displays the speaker's computer screen, while the other shows someone in a remote office (London, DC, or wherever). It's quite intimidating, so I was quite relieved when more than half of the department didn't show up! What's going on?

Then someone discovered we had set up in the wrong conference room; my boss was leading this month's meeting, so she decided to get everyone in the big room and forge ahead. After a brief intro it was my turn, and after clipping the microphone to my shirt pocket, I began.

I was halfway through my spiel when one of the manager's interrupted me to inform everyone that *gasp* we were in the wrong conference room and needed to move. The Partners had reserved the room in 30 minutes, and so we had better get to steppin'.

Brief interlude while the technicians got everything set up again; it was like watching those little men in black at the circus dismantle the tiger cage. Thirty minutes later I was back in action, and despite my boss messing with my stuff, I think I managed OK.

Oddly, I didn't get nervous. I mean, yeah, I was a little nervous, but the last time I gave a presentation at an IT meeting I could feel the fear creeping up my spine, trying to take over. In such a case fear breeds fear, as you begin to worry if anyone notices your shaky voice, or your papers rattling in your hand.

But not today! Huzzah and hooray!

Hmmm, my wife said she would be praying for me when I left the house this morning. You think that had anything to do with it?