I appreciate all the input. Well, sort of. I do feel I put myself out there with what I was asked to talk about and got defensive feedback from varied Cranky-Pants. Let’s see, of course I hate all software. Of course I’m talking down to developers. Etc. Etc.
O.k. … you know… I’m tired. I have a new, demanding job, and I’m living in a new town, and my gas grill is acting weird and I have about two hours every week to devote to thinking about whether I replace the thingummy that is causing this problem or buy a new grill, which I will probably have to take vacation time to assemble, time I would rather use pursuing my Craft, or at least scraping out the grotty old pine straw and replacing it with fresh. I also have to squeeze in a couple of hours of serious reading time to get ready for Monday’s grant meeting, which would have been a breeze until the Gummint slashed NDIIP’s budget, which has caused barely a ripple in LibraryLand, digital preservation being about as sexy as software development or off-site backups.
I will come give a talk. What I will mostly likely do in my talk is point out some recent successes (e.g. Evergreen). I will try to explain what, in my experience, would make sense in terms of strategies for pushing Evergreen and related initiatives past the tipping point, and I will explain why Evergreen is important (again, from my point of view, which is what I have been invited to provide); how to sell products like Evergreen (yes, you need to sell them, and if that makes you itch, you need to find people to do this); how to fend off librarian creature-feep and faith-based usability; and why the first words out of your mouth cannot be “It’s Open Source!”
We will have a good time, and I will see old buddies and make new friends (“Make new friends, but keep the old; One is silver, but the other gold…”). I will stay over Wednesday night and drive directly to work Thursday because I find night driving hard. I will then go home, eat dinner, and work on two work-related pieces that I pretend I’m getting done, hardy-har-har, on this road trip, and feel sorry for myself that I couldn’t stay for the whole conference.
I thought it might be fun to videotape some responses to the questions “What do you like about software” and “What do you not like about software,” but honestly, I’m pulling this session together on Saturday, when I come in to the office to crank it out, and I don’t have time for video editing. Plus the responses I got on video were not that spectacular, perhaps due to my poor interviewing, though maybe also because when you like something you’re not sure why. For example, I get a little soft and giggly when I use LibraryThing. Why? Um… it’s fun? It’s easy? It sparkles like a Fizzy dropped in water? I can see my books when I add them? I can play with toys? I can talk with people and see what they’re reading and what they think about what they read? Who knows?
It will All Be Good. O.k.?
Posted on this day, other years:
I missed the earlier post or would have written in sooner. I’d vote for “teach us something we don’t know and most of us would never learn if we didn’t have the opportunity to learn it from you.”
And, I wish you could stay longer, you might enjoy yourself.
And, if you have a big vehicle, I’d say go ahead and buy that new grill, and bring it. We can assemble it together, and make fun of the usability of the grill’s design and assembly manual. 🙂
You’re going to miss _my_ keynote?! 🙁
I’m looking forward to meeting you and hearing your keynote next week.
kgs++
But not because:
No, kgs, you get an inc for this reason: that’s one of the most personally honest and blunt (and funny) libraryland blog post I’ve seen in ages, and I can not wait to hear what you really have to say about the how we can do better (we (all) should).
So … thanks 🙂
I am sure you will shine, as you always do. Sorry to hear that you can’t stay for the entire conference.
Thanks all… I’ve had a heck of a week, and your comments rang well.
I should add that we have an illustrious person from my dept attending code4lib…someone who will actually understand what you’re talking about most of the time. Take care of him. 🙂