And then, sometime in January of 2007

I had known that the company CEO was creating a 10-minute "Biloxi" slot in the next company-wide all-hands meeting as I flew into New Orleans for our November 2006 work-week. The date of the meeting itself slipped a couple of times, between our World-Wide Sales event in Las Vegas and the holiday season, but there was no avoiding that it WAS going to happen. Biloxi would get world-wide company press, and I was asked to represent the effort.

The good thing about speaking in a large auditorium is that one has NO idea how many people are in the room. There are typically foot-lights that shine up to the speakers on stage so it is only via applause or laughter that indicates that anyone is there at all.

I, however, knew exactly how many folks were there in that auditorium. I was sitting in the second row in the front near the end so that I could walk to backstage mid-way through the meeting. I did this for a couple of reasons. I wanted to catch as much of the meeting as I could, and I wanted to not be around all the madness that goes on behind the curtain during an all-hands.

My voice will give away my nerves. I was going to address 4,000+ people, but that's not why I was nervous. I purposely structured my presentation to be focused NOT on Katrina itself, but what we, as a company, had done during our work weeks. (If you ask four people what category Katrina reached, you'll get four different answers.) I wasn't there to debate facts - I was there to report. So I wasn't worried about being WRONG on anything. No, actually I was nervous that I wouldn't do the residents of Biloxi justice. Their strength, their heart, their pride, their determination ... how on Earth would I capture that in 10 minutes?

There are mistakes in my presentation - Miss Reddix isn't a volunteer, she's a resident - but that aside, I stand by what you're about to see.

And, if you look closely at the end, you'll see that I kicked off my shoes as I left the podium to walk off-stage. I had side-bets with friends as to if I'd wear my vans or my pumps. Hey - I never said I'd wear them the whole time.