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Wm. G. McGrath (wgm@telus.net)
Fri, 16 Mar 2001 22:28:57 -0800
Date: Fri, 16 Mar 2001 15:10:39 -0800
From: Ben Holt <ben@emediastudios.com>
Subject: Re: Comdex problems
> performance. Some people I spoke with demanded a heavy duty post
> mortem with an eye to improving our presence at future shows.
>Something I think we should keep in mind is that VanLUG's presence at Comdex was
>carried out entirely by volunteers. Expecting a commercial quality presence is
>quite a bit to ask of people who are involved for no other reason then their
>devotion to Linux.
Couldn't agree more Ben. To me the home brew, folksy, amateur
atmosphere of a
lug is what linux is all about. If you want commercial standards and
values there is Microsoft. However, I also understand that some of us
want to take Linux into the boardroom and onto the corporate desktop.
So we are going to be judged accordingly. We have to anticipate and
expect that. I don't think reasonable people will demand huge
expenditures of cash, or highly polished presentations,
but competence is a different matter. There is
no reason for us to be perceived as incompetent, ignorant or poorly
prepared. These things are totally within our control.
>I did not see the Comdex presentations myself, but have heard similar reviews to
>those posted here. Instead of pointing fingers at particular presenters I think we
>should review the run-up to Comdex and ways in which such issues can be avoided. If
>a dress rehearsal of the presentations was not performed before the big show I
>would suggest that it be considered for next year as it may have helped smooth the
>rough spots or at least alerted people to a potential problem.
Absolutely. We have to move forward. We have to be solution centered.
It's quite important to be supportive of one another - but that's not
to say we can't also be constructively critical of each other too.
>Public speaking can be very intimidating. It takes a considerable amount of courage
>to step in front of an audience of strangers. Voluntarily doing so is commendable,
>but many of us "computer types", stereotype or not, do not have the skills required
>to pull it off in a "slick" way.
It's neither desireable nor necessary to present yourself as a
professional communicator. I never believe salesmen anyways. But it is
necessary to be well prepared - even to the point of having your
presentation memorized or half-memorized and to know what you are
talking about. If you can demonstrate your knowledge and intrest and
understanding of the subject, get that across to your audience and
they won't care if you're geeky. If you can teach your audience
something they will judge you positively.
There are ways of dealing with the 'jitters'. Some people for example
recommend closing your eyes and imagining your audience in their
underwear. So imagine the Telus Theatre - all those guys - boxers or
briefs??? Silk or cotton??? Who among us is a 'thong man' :=))) The
mind may boggle at the possiblities but it is hard to be afraid of
people in their underware. Once you're relaxed the rest is easy.
>I am only guessing, but I would not be surprised
>if the people doing the presentations were there as much because no one else
>volunteered as they were because they wanted to. Finding members with the
>willingness, ability, and knowledge to put together a high-quality presentation is
>a challenge. Tactfully dealing with volunteers of varying skill and ability is
>another. Beggars can't be chosers.
Perhaps. But there were other issues too. Having participated in the
poster committee, I find it hard to believe that as a group we can't
get together enough to produce presentations of quality. We certainly
have the knowledge and the expertise, perhaps the solution is to
approach it as teams. Discussion panels rather than individual
speakers. Or as you've said dress rehersals and feedback and much much
better organization and structure. I firmly believe that we can do
much much better next time around. But we will have to work at it.
bill
Knowledge shared is knowledge squared.
Hence the power of Linux.
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This archive was generated by hypermail 2.0b3 on Tue 03 Jul 2001 - 19:14:49