The second day of the conference started much earlier- if you wanted the free breakfast you had to be there by 7:30. However, it was worth the trip- another fantastic buffet. I was a bit stuffy- even though I removed all the down pillows from my bed, I didn’t realise that the comforter was down as well, so I had tea with honey with breakfast. As much as I love hot tea I almost never have it anymore- I probably drank more hot tea in four days than I usually do in a month.
My first session of the day, I must confess, I mostly worked through. It took me most of an hour to catch up on work and personal email. Even with my new Blackberry, any email that requires more than a two-line response really needs to be done on a computer. My second session was on media services- a really interesting workshop but unfortunately after the first ten minutes became a bit too technical for me. it was perfect for one of my colleagues who missed the session, however, so I made a point of introducing him to the presenter later.
After another refreshment break (I was also spoiled by all the fresh fruit- it was delicious!), were two workshops, but I honestly can’t remember which ones I attended- I have to check my notes. I ran up to my room and picked up my poster tube. This tube, by the way, prompted a lot of joking during the conference- either I looked like a bike messenger in Seattle or I had a huge quiver of arrows. At lunch were roundtable discussions, where I met with other professionals who are concerned with new Helpdesk methods and systems. I slipped out a little early to meet my co-presenters and set up our poster and demo laptop. I do wish that I had gotten flyers together- our table looked rather bare. However, all three of us were busy talking to folks non-stop, so I call it a success. I’m really proud of the work we’ve been doing and the innovation we’ve been introducing to established systems, and the awareness we’ve raised on campus looks like it will lead to a campus-wide license so faculty can use the same tools for teaching.
After the poster session I was sweaty and tired. We had a few folks who stayed late to talk, so I missed the following session i wanted to attend on Virtual Learning Environments, but it gave me a chance to go up to my room, drop off the poster, get changed and relax a little. The last session of the day that I attended was an open discussion on how to deal with “problem” customers. it was an excellent session and I wish we’d had more time.
Afterwards I met up with a few other folks from UCF and we went to the steakhouse attached to the hotel. it was pouring out, so no one wanted to venture out to eat, but the food and drinks were excellent. We had a really nice two hours laughing and talking. I’d had shrimp, scallops, and steamed veggies for dinner so I splurged on a slice of chocolate cake for dessert, but it was so rich I barely ate a quarter of it. Afterwards we went for another walk (with less exploring) past Jacksonville Landing. There was a series of historical markers so we learned a bit about Jacksonville’s colourful past, and found a little garden park under one of the bridges. This time we probably only did 1-1.5 miles. Once we got back I laid down to read but ended up falling asleep early-ish.
