Another Set of Graduations

Just a few random thoughts from another weekend full chocked full of graduations:

If you walk up to a lectern and the last person who spoke was about two feet shorter than you, you may need to adjust the microphone. If the foamy/grilly bit of the mic is pointed at your stomach, that's just not ideal. Consider where the sound comes out of your body. If sounds are coming from your stomach, we really don't want to hear that over the PA, do we? Please point the mic towards your head, at least.

House guy #2 had the great idea of having a scrolling letter sign attached to the front of house table so we could send the speaker messages like "please speak up!" or "Slow down and annunciate!" or "Please wrap up, for the love of God." But that would probably be inappropriate...

Please ask your students not to start their speech with "Good afternoon Faculty, Staff, Parents, Distinguished Guests, and Fellow Graduates. FWIW, nobody addressed the sound or video guys all weekend.

I wish there was some easy way of knowing how loud the stage monitor is up there. We were forty yards or so from the stage and I was riding the lectern mic pretty hard on several of those speakers. They run from soft spoken mumblers to really screaming. I wish I had someone on stage to give report, but alas, we usually don't.

It's a good idea to have "Pomp" cued-up, just in case the band isn't ready or isn't under the impression that they're playing it today (go figure).

Oh, and don't get so wrapped-up in that review of the new camera online that you fail to notice that they've switched mics and want to call the names now...(damn!)