The countdown has begun. I have only four days until I leave for Ad Astra. I have pile of things left to do, but I have triaged them so they should all fit into those four days. One of the tasks for me to start thinking about the topics of the panel discussions in which I’ll be participating. The most intimidating panel is the one about “Making ends meet on an artist’s income.” The subject isn’t intimidating, I could talk about that for an hour all by myself. But that is the panel for which I’m a moderator and one of the guests of honor, Rebecca Moesta, is going to be on the panel as well. Moderating a panel is going to be a new experience for me. Fortunately I have an in-house expert who has already talked me through a lot of the necessary etiquette.
The other three panels are: “Running a creative business out of your home”, “The experience of blogging”, and “The educational benefits of video games.” These are all good topics for me. I just need to write down some notes to help trigger my thoughts when I’m in front of a crowd and surrounded by other panelists who will probably be more qualified than me.
So in short, I’ve reached the part where I’m nervous. I’m nervous about flying, about leaving the kids, about presenting. But the next few days are going to fly by and then I’ll be having too much fun to be nervous anymore.
The last few days before a trip can be overwhelmingly busy. I hope you have a wonderful time and enjoy every minute. You’re definitely prepared for your topics. 🙂
Honey, I don’t think they could be more qualified than you!
I’m sure the panel will go splendidly. Given the experience you have moderating children’s conversations, I’m sure moderating a group of mature, professional adults will be no problem.
Wait. On second thought, maby not. Mature, professional adults aren’t always as well-behaved as children…
i’m really excited about seeing you in the panels and meeting you! i think and hope you will really enjoy Toronto and all us Canadian folks 🙂
Thanks. Now if I could just get the voices in my head to agree with you…
i think you will enjoy ad astra. i haven’t been in a while, but i know most of the folks who run it (or had a hand in starting it). and all are really nice warm laidback folk. it’s a fun weekend with fun folk. hope the butterflies settle down. i know you’ll rock 🙂
I know you’ll be great on the panels and I hope I get a chance to actually attend some of them. I’ll be at the hotel from Thursday evening on so you’ll have another familiar face around early on. 🙂
Yay for familiar faces!