Tiers or Tears
Yesterday I conducted the first half of a two day seminar on the unique ways in which male students and staff members can be motivated, instructed and trained. It is a field I have worked in for many years and I have a fair amount of knowledge on the subject. None the less I always build my trainings in layers and yesterday is a prime example of why.
Before I conduct a presentation I like to know the facility and the surrounding community resources as well as I can. It is not uncommon that I will visit an area where I will be presenting days or weeks in advance. And it is unheard of that I am not on site 90 minutes before a presentation is to commence.
This gives me the opportunity to check out the technology and make any physical adjustments to the room that will make interaction more geared to whole group participation than buddy talking and side conversations. In fact, though most facilities are all too happy to provide the technology I need, I always prefer to use my own even though that requires me to transport and set more equipment.
Yesterday, I made the mistake of using the on-site technology.
This particular segment of the seminar relies heavily on supplemental video materials. One section runs directly from a video file on my laptop. One section is recorded on a VCR tape. One segment is streaming video from and Internet down link.
Each piece of the on-site technology failed. The file from my laptop media player was incompatible with the media driver on the site equipment. None of the VCR machines on site was functional. The firewall on site precluded access to the streaming video.
This could have been a recipe for a very poor seminar, and since such are my bread and butter that is something I simply can’t have.
On this particular junket I had several individuals with me who were learning the training in order to be able to conduct it themselves. This is the only reason I agreed to use on site equipment.
At each stumbling block I was able to send one of those trainers to my vehicle to pick up my piece of redundant technology, while I elaborated on a previous concept, summarized or took field questions. As a result the participants never knew there where technological difficulties, and the training was very well received.
The message being two-fold:
One, always rely on your own technology when your reputation is on the line.
Two, never go into a situation without at least two back up plans.