Charles, a presentation is just that - you "present" an idea.  It's an introduction.  No one becomes knowledgeable about a subject from it's introduction.  It's the appetizer that tantalizes the palate in preparation of the main course.  Try follow-up now, where you could teach a beginning course.

Bill





On 9/27/2010 6:30 AM, Charles Butler wrote:
[log in to unmask]" type="cite">
The conference was only a day and a half long, Friday night and all day Saturday.  The topics were informative, but sometimes misleading by title.

If I had made a connection to the net, the group would have seen how many of their questions were answered and what strides have been made.  It was very frustrating over all as I was getting no feedback other than from KJ and the members of the conference administration, and their comments were polite but non-committal, so I left feeling very much in the dark.

Charles


From: MARIA GALEA <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Mon, September 27, 2010 6:25:26 AM
Subject: Re: SignWorkshop OASLTA

Hi Charles,
Well done for your presentation. You've done your part: It's just a tiny
seed you plant - so yes, you would feel very very small - but then as
Erika pointed out you never know how it will grow..
maria


Don't worry Charles
>
> I used to be one of the skeptics until Belgium's Kathleen & Sara
> discreetly introduced me to SW.
>
> The rest is history.
>
> Sent from my iPad
>
> On 26 Sep 2010, at 20:45, "Valerie Sutton" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
>> SignWriting List
>> September 26, 2010
>>
>> Hello Charles!
>>
>> First of all, a big hug from me, and a big THANK YOU for being so brave
>> to present at any conference - It takes courage to present in front of a
>> skeptical audience (if that was what they were...they may not have
>> been)...
>>
>> I am sure you did an excellent job and please do not be hard on
>> yourself...
>>
>> All presentations help SignWriting, no matter what the reaction, because
>> people become interested later. Even if they express some doubts right
>> now, it is because it is the first time they have heard of it and we all
>> are skeptical about new ideas - but then later, they hear about it a
>> second time from someone else, and they remember the discussions with
>> you the first time they heard about it, and they decide to look into it
>> because now their interest has been stimulated a second time -
>>
>> So you have really helped SignWriting no matter what -
>>
>> Thank you for telling us about the presentation so quickly after it
>> happened -
>>
>> And Kelly Jo was there? Wow - that is so great!
>>
>> So is there more time at the conference now? It will give you a chance
>> to talk to some of the people with questions - don't worry, Charles,
>> this was a real blessing -
>>
>> Val ;-)
>>
>> -----
>>
>>
>> On Sep 26, 2010, at 5:33 PM, Charles Butler wrote:
>>
>>> Well, I presented the workshop but I felt that I fell on my face for
>>> the following reasons:
>>>
>>> 1) Too much information, too little time.
>>> 2) Lack of vocabulary, all of the attendees were interpreters AND
>>> teachers of the deaf, and my vocabulary was inadequate to the task.  I
>>> should have asked for help from KJ or another interpreter at the
>>> beginning.
>>> 3) I got positive responses from a couple of people, but the most
>>> common one was "how many people IN OHIO are using this system", "why
>>> should MY students have to learn anything else?"  Half of them maybe
>>> "got it" but the others just kept with questions.
>>> 4) I should have simply linked to the website and gone from there as
>>> the website is informative, answers most of the common questions, and I
>>> could have had a Deaf Advocate actually talking to the group.
>>>
>>> Lessons learned, but I feel very small and inadequate right now.
>>>
>>> Charles Butler
>>>
>>>
>>
>
>