Diversions
Why I’m Not Pledging
The local public radio station here in concert with all the other public radio stations across this blessed land of ours is having their fall pledge drive this week. And I am defiantly not pledging to support. I am willfully and maliciously denying them my dollars and support, in spite of all their blandishments and incessant, unrelenting guilt trips. This, in spite of the fact that I worked part-time for the classical music side of that enterprise some decades past, before all the part-time announcers were let go. I thought for weeks that it was only me, that my announcing work was unsat. Honestly, I wouldn’t have been surprised if that was the reason, as I had gone very rote and mechanical over announcing the name of the piece of music up next, the composer and performing orchestra or soloist, and throwing in a bit of relevant information about the piece. No, it wasn’t me, as I later found out; they left all the other part-time shift announcers go the girl who worked during the week at an animal shelter, the woman who was a mainstay of the local little theater group, the guy who was a full-time writer for various little local publications. All of us were served notice; a kind of Friday Night employment massacre.
KC Meetup After-Action Review
I have thanked the attendees privately via e-mail but wanted to post some thoughts here. Leading off with a plus/delta exercise, because this situation needs a quality tool …
+ |
Δ |
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Lessons-learned database entries:
- Reaching back a bit to the Denver meetup in late April, a twice-a-year, spring/fall rhythm seems like a good idea.
- The overall structure of a Friday night kickoff get-together, then ~4 activities on Saturday (including 2 meals), then a brunch and one more optional activity on Sunday, seems about right.
- There is pretty much no such thing as too much communication.
- Lead time should be at least a couple of months, and 3 4 months is better.
- The expectation of structured presentations/discussion should be clearly set, and prospective attendees should be encouraged to have something to deliver in the 20 40 minute range.
I am uncertain about future locations. I want to think that central US, generally longitudes 85 ° 105 ° W, is preferable. We’ve done Denver and KC; the next two obvious possibilities are Chicago and D/FW.
Admittedly, if I could get away with it, I’d just keep having them in KC. It’s very centrally located and (mostly) cheap, and I’m confident I can get us free/extremely cheap conference-room space even if attendance grows well into double digits.
Anyway, feedback/suggestions welcome.
Chicagoboyz Appreciate a Jazzy Set of Wheels
(Just across the street from where we had lunch – at Mama Mill’s Jamaica Kitchen, in busy downtown Cibolo, Texas. The jerk chicken is to die for, BTW.)
REMINDER: ChicagoBoyz KC Meetup, 10/7-9
Original post here; minor schedule changes reflected in the version below. I will be sending an e-mail to known likely attendees shortly after this post appears and will follow up as needed with any additional prospectives.
| When | Friday 7 Sunday 9 October; details below |
| Where | Kansas City; Missouri side and generally downtown-ish; details below lodging should be in or generally near ZIP code 64108 |
| Who | ChicagoBoyz contributors, fans, and general associates; if you have not already done so, provide an e-mail in comments, using such discreet conventions as “john [UNDERSCORE] doe [AT] provider [DOT] com”, unless you know that I already have a good e-mail for you, in which case just indicate that you hope to attend |
| Why | primary objective is fun secondary objective is exchange of interesting ideas |