Tuesday, October 11th, 2011
It was about this time last month that I was heading to Spain with my family. It wasn’t your everyday family vacation, though—-I had been invited to speak at the VI Foro Pfizer Animales De Compania 2011 in Valencia, Spain. My topic? Social media for veterinary professionals. When I published my book earlier this year, I had no idea it would take me to Europe a few months later.
The speaking venue happened to be the Oceanografic aquarium; the largest aquarium in Europe and just one component of the Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias (City of Arts and Sciences) in Valencia. My daughter, who happens to be an “aquarium-freak”, began begging to go with me when she found out about the invitation. Luckily, we were able to make it work and the three of us (my husband, daughter and myself) headed off to Spain without much more than very rudimentary Spanish phrases to rely upon. Our most frequently used phrase ended up being: “Anglais, por favore?”
Despite our language issues, we had a fabulous time visiting the City of Arts and Sciences. It’s a beautiful complex built in what used to be an old riverbed. We spent the few days leading up to my presentation wandering through the complex, enjoying all the modern architecture and taking in the venues. The night before I had to speak, I had a bigger panic attack than usual—-would my audience be able to understand me? How would my ideas translate to another culture? I think I tossed and turned all night!
When I arrived at the Oceanographic the next morning, my host Jaime Diaz from Pfizer Salud Animal, escorted me to the auditorium—a 400-seat tiered bowl with a giant aquarium behind the stage—absolutely breath-taking! He immediately set my mind at ease when he let me know there were live translators in booths working behind-the-scenes, translating each speaker from French to Spanish, English to Spanish, and Spanish to English into headsets worn by the attendees. I love technology! And since Spain ranks 7th in the world in social network usage, despite being the 27th largest country in the world, my topic was well-received by the audience of 80+ Spanish Practice Owners. My only regret is not having been able to take more time off to visit the beautiful country of Spain, while I was there—maybe next time. I would like to once again thank Jaime Diaz and Pfizer Salud Animal for inviting me as a speaker to their event! It was an experience I will always remember.
Tags: international speaker, Pfizer Salud Animal, social media in Spain
October 15th, 2011 at 11:57 am
It was a very interesting conference. Thank you very much