ALA Anaheim: Rather Short

Among the minor distinctions of Dan Rather's talk was its brevity when compared with other speakers. Allotted an hour, after 45 minutes he was done with his prepared remarks as well as those shied at him during the q and a, when he left the stage for the ordeal of facing fans lined-up for his book-signing. As an audience member I felt as though I had paid for a pound of butter but got three-quarters instead. Since he didn't talk any faster than other speakers, his words had a higher unit price without being better.

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.