If I wasn't scheduled to speak in this session, I wouldn't be here right now

Those were the first words of the first speaker of the moonlight session I was attending tonight. They perfectly reflect my frame of mind. You see, I was scheduled to give a presentation tonight, in the main ballroom of a conference where abour 3000 people are registered.

Unfortunately, or fortunately (depending on how you want to think of it), I was scheduled to talk at 9:40pm tonight. Yes, that's not a typo. The program organizers have been cruel and sadistic this year. The keynote sessions start at 8am and the final talk ends at 10pm. There were 20 people in the audience when I gave my talk. I work with 4 of those, and 5 others were the other speakers in the session. Still, more than 10 people stayed up to hear my talk. Freaks. I was stressing about it the whole day but it went well. In fact, it went really ok. I'd prepped some handwritten notes for my various slides, but I ended up not even needing them. No hangups, no real hesitations.

Apparently, it's always the case when I give a talk. I come across as a calm and composed speaker even though I'm shaking like a leaf inside. I got kudoses from my coworkers and from my big boss, which is always a good thing. They liked my slides and the content came across as slick and well presented. Me happy. I had a been with a random stranger who was interested in the project and now I'm adrenalined-out and I shall go crash forthwith and sleep the sleep of the righteous, for I have given my talk and not passed out. All is well.