by Evelyn Hannon
Back in the 90′s Evelyn Hannon was the first Canadian to begin advocating on behalf of women travelers and she has never looked back. Her free travel tip newsletter connects over 65,000 traveling women worldwide and her website www.journeywoman.com is considered the premiere travel resource for females. PEOPLE Magazine featured her and TIME Magazine named her one of this new century’s innovative thinkers for the work she has done of behalf of women and travel. Today this 72 year old ‘Bubby’ continues to travel the world and is known as ‘ The Grandmother of Womens’ Travel.’
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This latest adventure started off really innocently. I was in the audience watching my daughter, Erica Ehm present her Yummy Mummy point of view during Ad Week in Toronto. Beside me was Richard Chassie, a guy I’d worked with in the tourism industry many moons ago. Richard asked me if I was going to the PodCampToronto Unconference. ’What the heck is an unconference?’, I asked. His initial response was, ’No one pays to attend, no one gets paid to offer a session and you, Ms. Journeywoman should offer a session on building community’. (He didn’t really call me, Ms. Journeywoman but the sentence sounds so much better with those two words in it).
Anyway, Richard had offered me a dare without understanding I have a love-hate relationship with challenges. My first response was dread. Me? Digitally deficient me? Leading a session on community building to techies a third my age who use words like ‘apps’ and ‘widgets’ and ‘podcasts?’ I’m a 70 year old Grandmother. Remember?
Richard goaded me and appealed to my ego. I would? Hmmm … maybe I should rethink my fear?
I go home and write a blurb describing my session. I call it, ‘Social Networking is not Rocket Science.’ That part is so easy and the blurb sounds so good I’m now convinced that I can actually do it.
Yes, this is going to be a piece of cake, I think as I go to the PodCampToronto webpage to upload my session description. I’m met with complete and humiliating failure. After ten tries I give up. The ###! form keeps telling me to retry my password. ’Sure, Ms. Journeywoman,’I tell myself.
I contact, Eden Spodek, one of the organizers and she agrees to post my blurb for me. I cross my fingers as I think, if she can’t do it either then I won’t have to speak. However, Eden is one of THOSE techies and she calls to tell me that I’m now good to go.
I go back to the PodCampToronto website to read some more and I learn that at unconferences if the speaker doesn’t appeal to you, you are encouraged to leave and find a session that does please you. Now I’m imagining three people at my session and two of them are leaving as I introduce myself. The third remaining person had wandered in out of the cold and he’s just happy to stay and keep himself warm.
I’m feeling the dread deep in the pit of my stomach. Call the kids, I tell myself. They’ll put things into perspective for you. (At this point I’d like to insert a warning to all moms. Be careful what you tell your kids when they’re young. Those words will come back to haunt you. Big time).
I should have known. They both say, ’Mommy, stop worrying – you’ll be great. OK, gotta go. I’m busy.’
Needless to say, the last couple of days before the unconference I’m feeling a little queasy. I stay calm by telling myself, Failure is good. You learn from failure. Each great woman has had a great failure in her life.
The morning of the conference as I’m getting my computer ready to take with me, I check in with Erica who tells me, ’Mommy, leave your computer at home. Just put your presentation on a memory stick.’ What Erica and I don’t realize is that this is an unconference. At unconferences speakers are responsible for bringing their own equipment.
Yay, I think to myself as I hear this rule from the very young organizer who looks like he’s a bit older than my grandson. No computer, no presentation. No embarrassment. I’m already visualizing the sign I’ll put up on the classroom door. UNsession cancelled. UNavailable computer. Until, the sweet young guy sends me to find Connie Crosby who will lend me her computer.
Cut to 10 minutes before the session. It’s standing room only and everybody has tech-savvy-ness written all over their faces. My mouth is so dry I know I’ll open my mouth and nothing will come out. The videographer comes in to tape my presentation. Great, now not only will the 100 people in the room know I’m an idiot, so will everybody watching in the halls, at home, on farms, and in shops around the world.
I open my mouth and 30 minutes later I close it. I have no idea what I’ve just said but I do realize the applause I’m hearing is loud, VERY loud.
Last night I checked into #pctotoronto and found four very special tweets that I hope will show other oldies like me to stay ‘in the game’.
@faisal_q Impressed with 70 yr old @journeywoman 6K followers and can barely use a PC #podcamp
@DonnaPapacosta At #pcto2010 Evelyn Hannon aka @journeywoman has the crowd eating out of her hand.
@mikepelzfox Was so thoroughly impressed with @Journeywoman presentation today at #pcto2010. The best social media talk I’ve seen in all events I’ve been to.
@laurenonizzle There is NO WAY this @Journeywoman woman (Evelyn Hannon) is 70 years old #pcto2010
WOOT! It seems a Bubby actually rocked PodCamp2010.
P.S. I just read an article called ’1,400 social media junkies swamp Ryerson for Podcamp Toronto 2010′ written by Lauren O’Neil, a Toronto Star intern who was in the audience when I spoke. Imagine my surprise when I read this paragraph she wrote about me.
‘my favourite session of the day, hands down, was journeywoman.com CEO Evelyn Hannon’s “Building an online community is not Rocket Science.”Homegirl was named one of TIME magazine’s 100 most innovative thinkers of the new century, and her website gets more than one million visitors a year. But that’s not why she’s impressive. She’s impressive because she’s become insanely successful online despite not having a Blackberry or iPhone. She can barely use a computer and she’s 70 years old. Plus, she’s hilarious and my new idol.
Thank you Lauren!
More to read: We are thrilled to be working with Evelyn Hannon, so much more senior technology assistance is much more readily available to help those not so comfortable with the online world, to get more ‘savvy’ on the internet, view our related articles to get you more in the know, especially when it comes to the ‘text language’.
