I had grave fears about this day - particularly that we would end up with an audience of one or- at the other extreme - that we would be turning angry people away at the door. 'But I've traveled 40 miles to be here... '.
Perhaps such worries were inevitable given the impracticality of taking bookings and the uncertain relationship between enquiries and actual turnout on the day - and at least two people who said they would be there, were not recognisable amongst the audience!
Anyway, an audience which had reached 65 when we kicked off and gained a few more - albeit a few filtered away at lunch time as expected - was a very respectable crowd. And a pretty varied one, too, with locals and visitors, academics and postgrads and an age range which must have approached 60 years. I tried to chat to as many as possible but did not manage all of you.
Everyone seemed to enjoy it - there were even pleas for another next year. Quite a lot stayed on for the walks round the immediate landscape -for which the threatened rain did not materialise though it wasn't far away. The presentations were very well received - and, to my relief, the technology worked apart from the failure of the remote mouse part way through the final talk (Sorry about that, Douglas, but I did press the buttons on the laptop very beautifully, I thought).
Perhaps there will be some sort of 'publication' - format as yet uncertain. Watch this space! And feel my unmitigated relief that it worked and is over and done with so life can return to its usual hectic whirl.
Perhaps such worries were inevitable given the impracticality of taking bookings and the uncertain relationship between enquiries and actual turnout on the day - and at least two people who said they would be there, were not recognisable amongst the audience!
Anyway, an audience which had reached 65 when we kicked off and gained a few more - albeit a few filtered away at lunch time as expected - was a very respectable crowd. And a pretty varied one, too, with locals and visitors, academics and postgrads and an age range which must have approached 60 years. I tried to chat to as many as possible but did not manage all of you.
Everyone seemed to enjoy it - there were even pleas for another next year. Quite a lot stayed on for the walks round the immediate landscape -for which the threatened rain did not materialise though it wasn't far away. The presentations were very well received - and, to my relief, the technology worked apart from the failure of the remote mouse part way through the final talk (Sorry about that, Douglas, but I did press the buttons on the laptop very beautifully, I thought).
Perhaps there will be some sort of 'publication' - format as yet uncertain. Watch this space! And feel my unmitigated relief that it worked and is over and done with so life can return to its usual hectic whirl.
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