The Rapper gets a Wrap

The Other Dr. Dray, renowned (???) rapper (?!) most recently appearing at CHI 2014 in Toronto, was wrapped today.  Friend and colleague Lydia applied her expert skills to Susan's head and voila!  A wrapped rapper.

At popular request: A Wrap-up Rap

Wrap-up Rap:  Susan Dray, CHI 2014

(Student Volunteers and Audience in red)

From down Panama way

Where I live today

Comes another visit

From the Other Dr. Dray.

Last time I rapped

‘twas ‘bout ethnography

but this time is different

as you shall soon see.

To tell you again ‘bout my favorite lessons

Things I have learned about our profession

Things learned from life and not just CHI sessions

This rap’s a wrap up of this expression.

If the user can’t use it, then it doesn’t work at all!

If the user can’t use it, then it doesn’t work at all!

You and me, we translate

This is lesson number one

‘Tween many different people

and it’s often very fun

But it also takes

Quite a lot of skill

At least if we’re going

To translate well.

It takes quite a lot

Of intelligence BUT

Not just the head kind

But both head and gut.

So we need to be sure to

Take care and help each other

‘coz we all need support

and it’s really not a bother

(some of my rhymes

may seem a tad cheesy

but please forgive me,

coz this rappin’, it ain’t easy!)

If the user can’t use it, then it doesn’t work at all!

If the user can’t use it, then it doesn’t work at all!

We must learn from the world

That’s lesson number two

Which means that you can learn from me

And I can learn from you

And too from places far away

Tho’ sometimes that is harder

But if we learn from everything

It’s bound to make us smarter.

If the user can’t use it, then it doesn’t work at all!

If the user can’t use it, then it doesn’t work at all!

Number three is ‘bout our thinking.

Black and white will just not do.

For the world is more complex

and more nuanced and so you

must find ways to make things clear

yes, that certainly is true,

but over simplying? that we must not do.

To take complexity and tame it

And to make it understood

Is a skill that’s not the same as

Simply stating that it’s good.

For, though pundits may not see it,

When they oversimplify

Our profession is diminished

In their audiences’ eyes

Which can make it that much harder

To make traction in places where they’ve been

So I cannot state it stronger:

this kind of thinking is a sin!

If the user can’t use it, then it doesn’t work at all!

If the user can’t use it, then it doesn’t work at all!

And now for the next

In the process we must trust

For with people at the center

And our teams onboard we must

Stay focused on the process

For we know that when we’re through

Our product will be better

Because that is what we do.

If the user can’t use it, then it doesn’t work at all!

If the user can’t use it, then it doesn’t work at all!

Our final lesson’s easy

For when all is said and done

We work and learn much better

When we are having fun

This goes as much for us

As it does for our teams

And our students and all others

Including bosses and deans.

Indeed, this rap’s an expression of this thought

For though some think a woman of my years should not be caught

A’ rappin’ to an audience of younger folks, it’s true

That this rap’s a wrap that’s been a lot of fun for me – for you?

I hope you will take these lessons all to heart

And put them into practice so that you can play your part

So I leave with one last thought I hope will help you to recall.

If the users, they can’t use your stuff, it does not work at all.

If the user can’t use it, then it doesn’t work at all!

If the user can’t use it, then it doesn’t work at all!

If the user can’t use it, then it doesn’t work at all!

If the user can’t use it, then it doesn’t work at all!

A case study, an interview and a rap (Thursday)

Today was the final day of CHI - Industry Day - and the day I was presenting both my Case Study in the morning and an interview in the afternoon.  The interview ended with a wrap-up in the form of a rap.  ;-)  Here's a (poor) video of it:  Wrap-up Rap

The opening and closing Plenary sessions were both fabulous.  Elizabeth Churchill (who also interviewed me in the afternoon) gave the morning one on things to make us cheerful.  It was full of great ideas and synthesized things very well.  Scott Jenson was our closing Plenary, talking about the Internet of Things.  Both were wonderful and I'm glad I got up (for Elizabeth) and stayed (for Scott)

However, I'm totally exhausted and am heading to a very early evening.  I remember partying until late into the night (or early into the morning) but no longer.

BLUR!!!!!!!!! (AKA Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday)

All of my good intentions to blog every night regardless of how late it was have evaporated.  Both because it was very, very late and because I was always completely and total exhausted.

Totally.

That's the way things are at conferences of course. Even if you aren't going to sessions, the pace, the people, the walking, the carrying/lugging, the being "on" - it is all just plain exhausting.  And many conferences are 2 or 3 days - but this one is 4 days PLUS 2 days ahead with Workshops.  And I had a workshop on Saturday and SIG today, so it's been a very long week.

And I'm not even done.  Tomorrow is my main day to present.

I'm presenting a case study in the morning on an ethnographic study I did in South Africa.  It's bittersweet since Gary was so much a part of this.  But it was a very interesting study and I'll be discussing how we made trade-offs as we dealt with the challenges.

Then, in the afternoon, I'll be doing an interview session with a good friend, Elizabeth Churchill.  She will be asking me questions about 5 lessons I've learned during my career - things that have relevance for practitioners today.  I've spent quite a lot of time thinking about these and am excited to have this opportunity to share them.

My wrap-up summary is going to be a bit different, though, since, honestly, how many people do you think will still be awake during the last session before the closing Plenary?  Not many.  And I really DO want people to remember these.

So, "the Other Dr. Dray" is making another appearance.  I/she will rap the wrap-up.  Complete with my backup dancers and beat boxers (aka Student Volunteers)  I did a first run through with Kami, who is a fabulous beat boxer, today and I must say I'm VERY excited!

Stay tuned.  Tomorrow at this time, it'll be done and I'll either be happy or deeply embarrassed.

I'm sincerely hoping it is the former!

Thursday Rain

An early morning spent packing.  An excellent sense of accomplishment.

A morning spent finishing CHI slides and rap.  A great deep sigh of relief.

A rainy afternoon spent teaching.  Great fun.  I love my students!

A lovely evening spent with Elba finding props for my rap (just wait and see!) and having a leisurely dinner spinning dreams and ideas.  

Then home to finalize preparations for the Great Migration tomorrow.  To bed way too late, but a very  satisfying overall.

Not an "ordinary" day

Today was my first "ordinary" day at the Technological University of Panama (Universidad Tecnologica de Panama or UTP for short)  Although it was hardly "ordinary" because, as is becoming clearer and clearer, "ordinary" is not a word that describes life in Panama.  Perhaps one day, it will seem "ordinary" to me but not now.  Not yet.

Wonderful Elba (who I will be profiling - I've been working on it but I can't quite capture her specialness so I will continue working on it) picked me up and whisked me to campus.  We had a quick lunch together - and discussed the way that Panamanians eat:  their main meal is at noontime.  This makes a ton of sense and I plan to change my ways from a rice cake and a handful of almonds to a real meal.  I cooked tonight to make that possible.

She had to go teach and I had a call with a Ph.D. student at Georgia Tech, one of Beki Grinter's students who had had Gary Marsden on her committee.  She asked me to step in - not to fill his shoes because I can't (nor can anyone), but to be part of her dissertation committee in lieu of Gary, given his extremely untimely death late last year.   I am touched that she asked me yet also humbled.  As I read over Deana's proposal, I was struck by how perfect Gary would have been for this role, and I felt the waves of sadness rush over me again.  It seems so strange to contemplate a world without Gary - yet here we are. Deana and I had what felt to me like a great conversation - she's another fabulous young scientist who's going to make the world a better place!

The rest of the afternoon was spent getting the key to "my" office - it's actually an office I'm borrowing from another faculty member who has 2 offices - this is her "coordinator" office and she's now using her "faculty" office more.  Geralis, the other Dean, went down to the UTP store to help me find and buy a UTP shirt - and I also got a UTP hat to use during my upcoming rap at CHI.  Or, should I say, "the other Dr. Dray's" upcoming rap.  Yo!

And now, after cooking dinner (the first one that I've cooked so far that you could actually call tasty), cleaning up, and working on a letter of reference for another amazing young scientist as well as on editing an article for Interactions, I'm pooped.  David will be calling when he gets back from his piano lesson - and, for the first time since I arrived, I'm really tired and may end up taking the call in my night gown, ready to leap into bed as soon as we finish talking.

So, although it was, by many measures, an "ordinary" day, it was filled with wonderful people, interesting ideas, and the exciting enthusiasm of students.

Sweet dreams to all!  Buena noche!