Lecturing for CoCo Noir

I kicked off Black History month on January 31st, with my first ever conference lecture. It was part of Costumers of Color's first CoCo Noir symposium. My talk was the intersection of several of my nerdy passions, including dolls, fashion, and sewing.

This started when I saw Costumer's of Color's call for lecturers for their new symposium. I had several ideas, most of which I've already forgotten. In the application form, I filled out the one that most interested me. Addy Walker: A Complicated History.

Me and my spontaneous proposal got accepted, so it was off to the races to research and write. I had flexibility regarding how long my talk went, as long as it fell under an hour. I'm a laconic author, so I was worried about it being too short. Likewise, I was worried about going overboard with infodumping and being too long. My finished work hit a sweet spot of not too rushed, not too chatty.

Another concern was whether the stuff I wrote would be comprehenisble to other people. Part of why I need to edit my work is my trouble telling when the reader needs something clearly explained.

Gigi of Costumers of Color was very helpful. She organized gatherings so lecturers could relax, chat, and get to know each other. She was also helpful in answering questions about how to run our talks, while providing flexibility to do our own things.

The day of CoCo Noir, I was excited, but kept getting the schedule wrong. Part of the issue was me misreading the emails, and forgetting there was a tiem zone difference between where I am, and the posted schedule. My talk was much later than I'd originally thought, but the important part was I started my talk at the right time.

All lectures were moderated, and mine was no exception. While I talked and operated my powerpoint, a moderator kept an eye on the group chat to make sure everyone behaved. She also gathered viewer questions to give me during the Q&A.

The main hiccup I had during my lecture involved synching up my slides with my talk. I can speak, or I can change slides. As they were on separate windows in separate programs, there'd be gaps in my sentences as I lowered one witndow and opened another. This was enough to annoy me, but not enough to be disruptive.

I don't remember all the questions, but there was a healthy amount. Thanks to my preparations and overall nerdiness, I was able to answer all of them. I took the active Q&A to mean people were interested in what I had to say, and wanted to learn more. It was gratifying to know people were interested in my lengthy infodump.

All in all, I enjoyed participating in CoCo Noir. If I have another lecture idea, I'd happily hold another talk.