Read about What I've Been Doing, and Enter the Competition

It's May ICLW! Welcome to both the 1st timers and to previous visitors,

I've been busy writing my presentation for the fertility workshop I'm leading; 'Enhance your Chance of Conception and a Happy and Healthy Pregnancy,' organizing the other speakers and publicizing both the workshop and my fertility coaching.

I decided to put myself out there, following the example of the political candidates who have just finished the election of a new government here in England. Rather than slipping my promotional literature into the local newspaper, I have spent several days walking the high streets of Stanmore, Bushey, Northwood and Pinner, among others, approaching strangers to tell them about what I do. Swallowing the vestiges of shyness from my youth, I targeted owners and managers in businesses whose customers might overlap mine, and offered a smile, a handshake and a message: "Please pass this card to someone you know who could benefit from this program, or display my cards near the till, so customers can pick it up without calling attention to themselves.

You can tell a lot about a person's character as soon as you ask them for something. The responses I received from the public ranged from interested and supported to rude and dismissive. Some get that trapped, fearful look; others feign interest to buy themselves some time to think of a way out.  I am grateful to those who took 2 or 3 minutes of their business day to hear me out, regardless of whether they took my cards. I had a very funny conversation with two size-zero women in a boutique about the merits of HRT (No, I'm not.) We made a connection, however briefly, and I enjoyed that. I was seriously surprised to get my most negative reaction from two elderly, overly made-up ladies in an empty lingerie/swimsuit shop, one of whom literally waved me off with a sneer as if I was bird-poo.  They obviously don't know anything about public relations or karma.

I'm excited to be bringing awareness of infertility to my corner of the world. So many people have told me that they suspect, or "know" that a person in their life is experiencing difficulty creating their family.  They don't know if it would be okay to offer them the details of my fertility workshop, in case it should embarrass or anger them. I ask them to look at it this way: by maintaining silence you are actually doing them a dis-service; preventing them from receiving information, perspective and  good quality support. 

I'm not afraid to put myself out there. I don't write under an alias or use too many euphamisms. I am straightforward and honest. Most infertility bloggers know tons more than I do about the all-important numbers representing progress or failure of a cycle. What I know is how to help them prevent being buried by those numbers quoted over the phone in return for your clinic ID number, how to deflect insensitive comments and how to pick yourself up again after a devastating result and move on.

I wish more of my blog followers lived close enough to come to my fertility workshop because I'm proud of it, but mostly because I think it will be really good and helpful. For those of you who do live within an hour of here, I believe that it will be good enough to be a destination worth the travel. So, in honour of ICLW and my Twitter followers, I'm offering one person a tuition-free place on this workshop.  All you have to do is:

1. Follow me on Twitter @yourgreatlife in the next 54 hours (by 8:00 a.m. GMT on Sunday the 23rd of May, 2010.)
2. Comment on this Post, giving me your Twitter name (I will acknowledge your entry and follow you back) and contact details (they won't be visible to the public), and
3. one sentence about why you want to attend the workshop.

I will collect all comments and draw one randomly. The winner will be contacted privately, and named here only if they permit their identity to be revealed. I may, however, describe the person by their Twitter name.  Good luck! 

Please note: There is no monetary equivalent of this prize and no money will be awarded in lieu of the place on the Enhance Your Chance workshop. Neither will any money be awarded to compensate the winner of the workshop if, for any reason, it fails to take place. The winner may, however, be offered a place on a future fertility workshop held by Your Great Life. This prize cannot be transferred to someone else. If for any reason, the workshop presenter believes that the winner's presence at the event would be detrimental to the group as a whole, or to an individual on the workshop, it will be entirely the right of the presenter to rescind the winner's prize.

Comments

[Ewebey]

Good luck on your workshop!
ICLW: 156

[Marisa]

Hope your workshop goes well!

It's great that you've put yourself out there. Sorry about some of the reactions you've been getting but it also sounds like you are learning a lot!

ICLW\http://daega99-arewethereyet.blogspot.com/

[Rach]

Good luck with your workshop!

Happy ICLW!!
#40 http://thegalwho.wordpress.com/

[Junebug]

Good for you for getting out there. I'm not even comfortable talking to my own family and friends about it. Wow! Good Luck!
ICLW #119

[Suzy]

Good on you for putting yourself out there - I'm no good at doing things like that so I commend you!

[niki]

Thats awesome you are putting yourself out there to help raise awarness for IF. I wish your workshop much sucess!

HappyICLW!(#64)