This time last week United flight #14 was bringing me back from Hawaii. I gave the opening keynote at the state chapter of the ASSE’s annual convention on Monday. Though I have fond feelings of my home, coming back to New Jersey (and rainy 55-degree weather) after spending a week in Waikiki was bittersweet. But when you travel a lot it always feels good to sleep in your own bed. 
After every trip, I review what lessons I learned or what things I already realize that were reinforced. Here are four lessons/reminders from this journey:
I) People are friendly everywhere–if you are. Of course, when you’re living in paradise-like conditions your friendliness meter tends to be high.
II) No matter what, check your slides on the screen before show time. Because of some technical problems, I only had a few minutes to check my slides before my talk. I only checked them on the monitor. I didn’t want anyone in the audience to see them because the first few are pictures that are a funny surprise. Still, I should have checked at least one. (I forgot you can start a slideshow in PowerPoint at any slide.) When I displayed them on the two large screens beside me, they weren’t sized right and the top part of each slide was chopped. For most slides it didn’t make a difference but for a few it did.
III) It’s worth it to fly out of Newark instead of Philadelphia to get a long non-stop flight. (Newark is an hour further from my home than PHL.)
IV) Begin and end your talk with something specific to your audience or location. Of course I said “Aloha” when I got on stage, but I also included “oukou” which means “everyone.” Then I told my friendly, colorfully dressed audience that if we were in Jersey I’d say “how youse guys doin.” That got a laugh. For my finale, I sang a parody based on Don Ho’s “Tiny Bubbles.” That was a big hit. Here are the lyrics:
Working safely, all the time
Keepa you happy
Keepa you fine
Working safely, is the way to go
‘Cause you’ll never have to worry bout stitches or getting hurt
So here’s to P P E
And here’s to injury free
And most of all here’s a toast to Hawaii’s A A S E
Like Don Ho, I got the audience to sing along after me when I repeated the first four verses. It was a fun and memorable way to end my talk. (Several people asked me for a copy of the lyrics.)
Whether things go perfectly or there are a few glitches, you and I can always learn or improve from our experiences.
