The past three weeks have been INSANELY busy, much more than I anticipated. A couple weeks ago I estimated and sent out some bids on some very large project at my office. Last week I switched to a "working vacation" out West to fill 6 months worth of open-to-buys with my wife for her store. It was a tough one this time to fill all the OTBs with things we were happy with (but we did it). While there I found out I probably won both jobs which represent probably 20% of our business for the year, and have been tweaking numbers and spreadsheets non-stop since then to button things up and lock them down. Still have a bit more to do today but I feel like I'm out of the woods with the one finished up and the easier one left to do, but any relief I'd have felt shall be postponed as my boss signed me up to give a presentation and sit on a panel in front of a few hundred peeps at a tech conference hosted by one of our bigger clients on Friday: ecib: "Setting aside the fact that I hate public speaking, what exactly is this conference about and what is my role to be? boss: "Not sure. They wanted us to present something and I just said "yeah" and signed you up. You know more about this stuff than me." ecib: "..." boss: "It'll be fine, just sit up there and say smart things." ecib: "Not cool at all dude." The presentation is Friday, I've been out of town for a week, and one of my biggest pet peeves is having to speak to a group where I don't feel 1000% prepared to deliver on the topic. I still don't have any details other than a general theme (technology in k12 education). So my brain is already deeply fried, and I've got to wing this presentation (which will be fine frankly, but I won't be at ease till it's over). I rarely feel this way, but this is one week were I'll be looking forwards to Saturday. It's all good though :D
I'm of two minds about posting this here -- but it's not very long and in case anyone else suddenly finds themselves on a panel or moderating a panel, here's the instructions: (I'm having trouble copying this so it looks okay. Sorry if it looks messed up on your screen - which is probably different from my screen.)
Important Step: When organizing your panel, be sure to give all panel members guidelines. Let them know the topic, the format, the names and specialties of the other panellists, and most importantly, the length of time they can speak. Instructions for the panel moderator: 1. Thank all participants for attending and explain the purpose (topic) of the panel.
2. Introduce the panel members, including yourself, and briefly describe the
background and expertise of each panellist.
3. Explain the format to the audience: Each panellist will speak
in turn followed by a question period.
4. Pose an opening question or point and set the panel in motion.
Ask the panellists to respond.
5. Keep the discussion focussed. Be aware of the topics or viewpoints that
will be covered and steer the discussion to address them.
6. Keep the discussion calm and courteous. Allow equal time for opposing views.
Keep the discussion moving.
7. Keep everyone involved. If panel members are silent, invite their opinions.
8. After the presenters are finished, invite questions from the audience.
9. After question period, invite panellists to make final statements.
10. Make a closing statement. Sum up the consensus and add any impressions or additional
comments you have about the discussion.
Thank the panellists and audience for their participation.
Damn Lil, busting out the Panel Bible here :) I'm just hoping the panel host does a good job on # 1 right about now ;) I can speak on network implementations in k12 settings no problem, and I can field questions. My plan is to do more question answering than presenting. I'll let the host do the lifting there, especially since I wasn't given a very specific topic. I think most of our presenting will be brief in our area of expertise and this will be more reactive as I'm understanding it.
Note: Panel discussions have a moderator. Panel discussions have a topic. Panel discussions then have 3-4 panellists. The moderator may or may not know what he or she is doing, but if they do, then there is a standard panel format. The moderator should be in touch with you and let you know how long you have to speak. Anyway, bravo overall.