ICE 2008 is over, and, save the correction I posted yesterday, everything went fairly smoothly. There was some confusion over the room in which I was supposed to present, but the ICE staff was very helpful and friendly in sorting that out!

I needed to have taken a picture of the schedule outside my assigned location. David Pogue was scheduled to give a talk in that same room earlier in the day!

The Talk

Both the delivery and the technology went well yesterday. I was speaking on a raised stage area, so I had to remain conscious of my footing to avoid literally breaking my leg (which a friend of mine had suggested I do idiomatically wishing me luck)! Also, a piano was on the stage with me, so I felt required to play it some before my talk began.

I was tickled by something I said incorrectly during the presentation. Intending to say, "Creating an outline on your slides is fine if you are teaching high school freshmen how to take notes," I accidentally substituted the word "fremen" for "freshmen." In truth, if you find yourself in a room full of high school fremen, I suggest you run before they claim your water for the tribe!

Miscellany

I attended some good presentations – including a couple by David Pogue I might write about later. The exhibitor floor was pretty sparse with Microsoft's booth being the only one that stood out in any way. Apple's booth was virtually nonexistent this year.


points for popcorn!

While in the exhibitors hall, I snagged a copy of Mr. Pogue's Mac OS X Leopard: The Missing Manual, and he autographed it for me! I had a couple more chances to talk to Mr. Pogue throughout the day, and I found him incredibly friendly and approachable. I find it hard to believe that people write disparaging stuff about him on their blogs!


memorabilia! whee!

My friend Mary had a table set up along the back of the hall, documenting a technology success story. She was featuring composer trading cards her children had made using Microsoft Publisher. It was a great idea, and I might end up using it in my classroom later this year! (By the way, Mary's my music teacher hero.)


I'll trade you a Dvořák and a Copeland for a Mozart!

Finally, I will leave you with this odd piece of artwork outside the Indiana Convention Center. I can't find any info about it at the moment, but it looks like two adults dancing atop a pile of money in front of a poor child (not visible in the picture). If you know the story behind the sculpture, let me know!


just rub it in, why don't you?

That's all for this year's trip to ICE. I'll keep you posted if any other interesting opportunities come my way!

Tags: my talks, david pogue