During today's Legal Learning Webinar, I discovered a few new things about self-storage bailments, which was enlightening, and a few old things about human nature, which was disappointing. I'll explain.

But first, by way of disclaimer, let me share this quote by one of my favorite writers, Anais Nin: "We don't see things as they are, we see things as we are." In other words, every perception and experience we have is first filtered through our mood, memory, physical state, etc., so the final outcome may vary from moment to moment, depending on "where we're at" in our head.

Where I was at this morning before the webinar was not such a groovy place ... On Sunday, I was seized by a horrible case of food poisoning or something peculiarly like it. (It's not the the first such experience I've had in recent weeksand, no, there hasn't been "a visit from the stork," as my mother inquired, or any such similar nonesense.) Yesterday I was no better, but I had a deadline for the ISS July issue, preparations to make for today's webinar, and a 1 p.m. meeting. Life goes on (between visits to the porcelain god). So this morning, though recovered, I was groggy, enervated and a wee bit cranky. A perfect disposition for interacting with our online audience!

Today, we made an announcement I thought would be received with enthusiasm: After months of attendee inquiries and internal debate, those of us involved in Legal Learningour presenter, Jeffrey Greenberger, along with members of Inside Self-Storage and other interested partiesdecided to make available recorded versions of the live events. Every month we are contacted by self-storage professionals who would like to receive and/or purchase a complete copy of the presentation. Either they missed the event, would like to review it, or would like to share it with a co-worker.

So we are honoring these requests. The live events will continue to be FREE for anyone who attends. The recorded sessions will be sold for $40 through the Self-Storage Training Institute (www.selfstorageeducation.com) and the Self Storage Education Network (www.selfstorageeducation.net). SSTI is owned and operated by Inside Self-Storage. SSEN was started by industry veterans Mel Holsinger and Jim Chiswell. Both provide affordable, online, educational resources for owners, operators, managers and investors.

[Note: The recorded session offering will begin with today's event. But it will take three to four business days for the product to be processed and made available through either website, so look for this first recording after May 11th.]

Immediately, a few of today's attendees bristled at the price, which, frankly, shocked me. We've apparently spoiled you with the free live versions! But I'd like users to bear in mind the real value of the essential legal information Jeff provides, not to mention the time, energy and human/technical resources that go into creating these monthly presentations. That anyone would dispute the offering's value is astounding; if you don't feel it has value, you should not attend, not even for free. Please, leave the "seat" for someone who will appreciate it.

So the first quirk of human nature of which I was reminded today is people's tendency to take things for granted. It seems money is the only method by which many folks appraise things, which is very sad indeed.

I was also reminded of the general discourteousness that permeates society. Midway into Jeff's presentation, one gentleman submitted the comment, "Is this it's like watching paint dry?" First, this person ought to learn some grammar. Second, I cannot believe he would send this to a webinar moderator or presenter. Did he think it would be well-received or appreciated? That it was appropriate? His mama obviously never taught him any manners! (I'll also add that he stayed for the duration of the event and later asked several legitimate questions. Obviously, the session was more useful than he initially proclaimed.) Those of you who have participated in Legal Learning or seen Jeff at an industry tradeshow know he is a dynamic speaker who understands how to deliver information and hold an audience's interest. I can only hope Mr. Charming's comment has somehow been misinterpreted. What did I say earlier about the way we perceive things?

So this was my webinar experience today. But I'll admit it may have been colored by a less-than-cheerful state of mind. Let me repeat the quote with which I opened: "We do not see things as they are, we see them as we are." Sometimes the only thing determining a positive from a negative experience is one as seemingly inconsequential as the flavor of jam we used on our morning toast. So take today's blog with a grain of salt, and don't let this turkey get you down!