Be Prepared

Be prepared is the Boy Scouts’ motto, and it was Boy Scout Troop 783 to whom I gave a talk about photojournalism last night. The only problem - I was not prepared. I thought I was. I packed earlier in the day and thought I had everything I needed. But when I arrived at the church where the troop meets, I unpacked my digital projector and discovered I left the power cord at home. This was 20 minutes before the meeting was to start, which was not enough time to go home and get it. After I got over the initial shock of not being able to show my portfolio with my projector and big screen, I went on with the talk. I had to have all the kids huddle around my 15-inch laptop and we made do.

I want to thank Troop 783’s scouts and leaders for inviting me. This was my second time speaking to a group of people about my job, and I am staring to enjoy it a bit more. I tend to ramble and go off on tangents, as my wife tells me, but I am getting better. I am going to create a brief outline for future talks to keep me on track. I should have listened to her advice about just that and to be prepared.