I think people get wrapped up in the latest toy/tool, and they forget about the older, subtler stuff [like talking face to face]. Solving problems (like figuring out how to work a machine) is so ingrained in us, and has such immediate rewards, that it's kind of addictive.Collecting functionality gives us problems to solve - simple, rational ones - that give us an opportunity to get that rush of accomplishment. I now think it's related to consumerism, where the problem is deciding what to buy, the effort is the research, and the reward is the belief that you bought something superior or cheaper. The difference is that most geekisms involve some kind of DIY element where the geek adds value, maybe by assembling or repairing or modifying what they acquire. Consumerism is passive; it just collects.
To collect functionality, though, is to run the risk of forgetting why the technology exists in the first place. Most of the Internet, for example, exists to assist communication. But it defeats the purpose to sit there fiddling with your computer or your phone when you should be having a conversation with someone who's actually in the room.
Here's an example: I heard of a technology conference where Twitter was being used to liveblog various presentations. The idea was to help attendees decide if they wanted to step into presentations already in progress. It can really help make conferencegoing more efficient and this application is a solid win for Twitter. But in a couple cases, the twitter feedback was negative: the audience panned the speaker. The thing is, they didn't do it out loud; the speaker didn't know about their objections until it was all over, if at all. As far as I'm concerned, this is the height of hipster selfishness. I'll save you my righteous indignation, but I've made plenty of technical presentations to anonymous audiences, and I regard feedback as a professional obligation.
I try not to go over the edge. Sometimes it's hard to keep the map of the forest in mind when I'm picking my way through the trees. I'm a geek too, after all.
Last summer I was at a conference where live Tweeting was possible. As an audience member with a laptop in hand I found it interesting. It was like passing notes, or whispering in your neighbor's ear. Except that your neighbors were anyone else following the conference hashtag on Twitter.
ReplyDeleteBut then as the time grew closer for me to give my presentation, it was a bit intimidating. I sat in the back of the room for the conversation preceding mine, and the audience was ripping into the presenters.
Needless to say I was a bit intimidated as I plugged my Macbook Pro into the podium and looked out at the sea of laptops. But overall it went well. I didn't watch the Tweets while I was speaking, but I looked at them afterwards. It gave me a glimpse into what the audience was thinking at the moment, something we don't get too often.
@hacool on Twitter.
I too have been a presenter at a "twittered" conference. I had a fair amount of confidence in what I was presenting so I was not too intimidated. Perhaps I was only fooling myself but at that point it would have made matters worse to get more nervous.
ReplyDeleteIt did get me thinking though; is there a way to take advantage of the tool as part of a presentation making it an enhancement rather than a distraction/detraction.
I have to admit that I could not do double duty and monitor a tweet stream as I am presenting so the only way I can see it happening is with a "partner" to monitor the hashtag(s).
This could be used in a couple of ways. One would be to raise questions that arise that might not actually be voiced. A second way and more powerful would be to guide a discussion/presentation to an area that seems to be of great interest to the group as eveidenced by the amount of traffic it gets. I tend to do this based on the questions that get raised but this would add one more avenue to tailor a presentation to the needs of the audience - rather than what I think they want to know.
This would take some practice and one would have to be really flexible on the topic and have excellent presentation skills to keep to the alotted time, etc. I look forward to the opportunity to experiment with this idea though.
Hello, Heidi, and welcome, George.
ReplyDeleteHeidi, it was of course your story that formed the basis for that part of my post. I'm glad to hear it fleshed out a bit. I'm also glad my fading memory didn't misrepresent it.
George, you make a good point: a really talented presenter could monitor the feed and use the comments to make additions or modifications to the presentation. Speaking for myself, all I've got the flexibility for is to insert references to what other presenters have been saying in the last couple days. I find that helps to engage the audience.
On the one hand, I find myself thinking that people should just speak up if they have a question or a comment on your presentation.
On the other hand, the social dynamic of interrupting someone is very different from that of "passing a note".
Maybe a presenter could set up a "tweet me" feed for their talk, where audience members could post questions or comments directed towards the presenter without demanding the attention of the whole audience. The presenter could then choose which to respond to. I think I might be able to handle that.