[ILUG] A possible use for the ILUG's money?

[Mike Knell]

> I disagree, most tecchies I know are far more elegant and articulate in
> their communication than the majority of people. The difference between a
> tecchie and a salesperson is that most of what the tecchie says is true and
> accurate, while most of what a salesperson says is "easy listening" - a
> meaningless stream of words, a few of which strung together in short bursts
> might make sense in an alternate context, but together they cleverly and
> imperceptibly disable the listener's ability to concentrate, reason, or make
> rational decisions. Hence rendering them extremely open to suggestion.

Coming late to this, but just to agree loudly. A talk from a techie who
really knows and loves their subject is a joy to listen to - there's often
an enthusiasm and an infectiousness there that isn't there in even the 
best and slickest marketing presentations. 

I've always thought that the quality of a talk is usually inversely
proportional to the slickness of visual aids used - some of the best
lectures I've seen have been one person, maybe doing some chalk-and-talk
on a blackboard, talking about something they really grok. Some of the
boringest have involved long strings of spiffy animated Powerpoint slides 
or endless piles of transparencies. 

Get a good techie talking about something they know backwards and really 
love, and you're in for a fun ride.

m.
-- 
Computer Science System Administrator, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland
       mike.knell at cs.tcd.ie -=- http://www.cs.tcd.ie/Mike.Knell/