ALA Anaheim: Now Hear This

An audience is split into two types of people--those who microphone and those who don’t. Those who don't have as much to say as those who do; while those who do have as little to say as those who don't. Phenomenally, the better a speaker is known, the longer the microphone queue and (sometimes) the longer the questions or comments.

The microphone stand comes in all heights--except that of the questioner. Some questioners provide autobiographies (some are so long that you wonder who the featured speaker is) while others have decided that they are in a debate and are taking the opposing side.

ACRL Philadelphia: Testing (1)

Before a talk, to determine the efficacy of a microphone, a technician often says "Testing." I wish the tester were more creative. For a library conference, such as ACRL, that person should pronounce the words "Dewey" or "LC," and if more needs to come, start through the schedules.

If poetry were favored, there's Shakespeare's "Give every man thy ear but few thy voice." Me, I'd vote for a recital of Milton: "High on a throne of royal state."



"One in an ACRL Philadelphia series. Collect the whole set."