This actually happened two weeks ago, but things have been moving apace since then (I’m procrastinating as I write this):
We have this sort of forum at work where people can talk about a pertinent tech or design or tech trend they know about, and anyone who’s interested brings their lunch and listens to them.
After a few delays due to scheduling issues, I finally got to give the talk I’d prepared in February (some methods to consider when data mining things we don’t normally data mine). Some things about how it went:
About 40 people showed up. That’s about three times more than any talk we’ve held since summer started, and it was not expected. I had to stand firm to stay on the schedule.
Enough people have thanked me and talked to me about next steps that I’m pretty sure it was well received.
I’m the first non-dev, non-architect, non-consultant to present; the first person in a role considered “non-technical” (even though I made sure the topic was sufficiently technical to qualify for a talk).
I’m also the first woman to present. I agree this shouldn’t matter, and it wouldn’t matter if I were the third or fifth or even tenth – we have more men than women in the department, so it was never going to be 50:50 – but I’m the 19th presenter, and therefore it’s statistically significant for that alone. The men:women ratio is much higher than 19:1.
My manager said she got a nice e-mail from a manager who attended and liked it, which is great, but already it’s starting to feel like it never happened. Right now I’m just very curious if there are any knock-on effects – if anyone will build on what was in the talk.
Congratulations! That sounds challenging and, well, terrifying to me (even though I’m a guy and a dev). I’m sure that your expertise and opinion were well-appreciated. I wish more ‘non-technicals’ would do that where I work.
The term rankles; sure, I’m no dev, but I need to keep up when I sit in on meetings. A colleague of mine is writing a script to extract data from a database and put it in a report for another co-worker – I should hope that shows we’re not know-nothings, or at least not all of us.
At a meeting yesterday someone asked twice if the people on my team knew what department we were in – the implication being we didn’t perhaps know and were confused by the org categories. There were two of us there, and both times we didn’t say anything and let someone else change the subject, because how the hell do you answer that politely?
It’s probably too soon to post here in Victory!, but i feel like sharing today.
August was a horrible month. During his first hospitalization, my father was diagnosed with esophageal cancer, had an injection port implanted for eventual chemo, had a feeding tube implanted in his stomach for supplemental nutrition, recovered, and went home. Several days later, he went back in due to abdominal pain, had a ‘small’ tumor removed from his bladder, recovered, and came home. Just about 25 hours after he was discharged, a mishap during a tube feed caused the tube to literally pop out of his body, leading to a third stay where a feeding tube was re-implanted (correctly this time), more recovery, and confusion between hospital departments on when Dad could be released. Whew!
After all that, we’re back home again, finally. We’ve still got a long way to go. The PET scan still needs to be done so the doctors can determine the best manner of treatment. But at the moment, things feel good. Since we slept late, brunch was one of my “Dagwood” omelets-- onion, mushroom, stewed diced tomatoes, chopped up salami, shredded cheddar cheese, just a touch of garlic powder, lots of eggs-- and toast. Dad ate a good quantity of it and said it was delicious. He’s curled up on the couch with a dog by his side, watching WWII aircraft training videos… and now he’s taking a nap. We’ve gotten several tube feedings done without incident, and we’ve been home for almost two whole days now… so I’m finally starting to relax a little. My belly is full after two helpings of tasty omelet. It won’t last, but at this moment in time life feels good. Yay!
I fixed (fingers crossed) the dishwasher draining issue.
I solved a fiendish cryptic crossword. I didn’t think I could do it, 95% of the time I think it’s beyond me, and then after 1 - 4 days the answers trickle in.
Didn’t proofread, didn’t write a second draft, stamped it and sealed it up within a few minutes of finishing, mailed it within an hour. Tricked my brain into thinking it was just a longish text message.
