What might be making you a tad apprehensive, but might not, as it's too soon to tell

[DanaC]

I should have posted in here a fe days ago, but didn't think to. I was feeling mildly apprehensive about a paper I had to deliver today at the annual Social History Society conference.

I was supposed to present last year but did my back in and was unable to travel to Brighton for it. This year it was held at my own university (yey!).

What was making me apprehensive was that a) I hadn't actually written the paper at that point...and b) I was part of a three person panel, along with my PhD supervisor and my colleague/fellow supervisee, (no pressure!) presenting on the broad preset theme of 'Places and Spaces', which we'd then narrowed down to an exploration of place and militarised space in Georgian Britain. A theme I had blithely agreed to present on, with a vague notion of how to approach it. All of a sudden the conference was hoving into view over the horizon and I was hurriedly trying to make my work fit this theme, having submitted a proposal months ago which committed me to a particular direction.

Also, never know how many people will turn up to each panel (all running parrellel). It was possible that we'd be presenting to a crowded seminar room...or a near empty one.

Turned out good though. Enough people to make it worth presenting (8 or 9) not enough to make the seminar room feel crowded.

And I ended up pleased with paper