There are only two weeks to finish preparing my keynote address for the twelve annual Women and Work Conference at Idaho State University. I have been given about 40 minutes for my presentation which will be in power point format and I will also be including highlights from HGTV's All American Handyman. There is an expected crowd of 250 local women planning on attending. I am not sure if I will be nervous or not...I have never spoke in front of a crowd that large before, but I am very excited for this opportunity though so I think it will be so fun and I won't worry about the crowd. That is going to be my approach anyway. It is going to be held in the Bengal Theatre in the Pond Student Union Building. I have been sifting through old family photos trying to find a picture of me playing in the sawdust or playing with scrap wood blocks when I was a toddler-but no such luck yet. Apparently my parents only got the camera out when I was naked.....seriously summers in Idaho aren't that warm-why was I always naked? I have put a lot of work into the presentation and I hope that it is entertaining and motivates young women to pursue a career in a non-traditional field. Click on the following link to hear Marlene Darling explain about the conference.....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lx43FvSAriI
I will also be putting together a hands on career exploration workshop for a group to experience being a woodworker for a half hour. I have a couple of ideas in mind, but either way, they will be able to take a functional piece of woodworking home with them that they created themselves.