[NOTE: For those who come right in for Launch Event entries and see this first, please jump down to the first post and come forward (up) - I thought that it was a fantastic event, and a great use of the time, and the stars in this entry only apply to the final segment - Q&A]
4:30pm - 5:00pm
If you've ever watched the Daily Show, imagine Jon Stewart saying "awkwarrrrrrd" in that way that he does.
I really don't understand why Q&A sessions continue to be featured in these sorts of events, when they virtually always follow the same clumsy sequence - people ask very domain- and problem-specific questions (the kind that would best be asked in usenet newsgroups or email support), there are communication issues leading to the same wrong answer being provided multiple times and the questioner re-asking the question, and then everyone finally giving up. In the odd case that the question is actually understood, often the prospective answerer dances around it for a while, or gets defensive, because they really don't have a clue (for the reasons covered in a prior post - questioners have an infinite set of questions to draw from, versus the finite knowledge of anyone on the stage).
This one was no exception. Everyone hung around only to see if they won an xbox360 (which they gave out - to be shipped when released - to one person at the entire event who had filled out their evaluation form. They also gave out some Toronto Maple Leaf shirts, but they went over pretty poorly), or to figure out how to get their bounty (previously documented).
As is standard at events with evaluation forms, more than once I heard presenters admonish the crowd with lines like "If you're giving us less than 8 or 9, then please come up and tell us how we could improve the show..." I find these sorts of requests disingenuous and manipulative - the real purpose, obviously, is to guilt people into giving an 8 or 9 (under the guise that if they're too lazy or unmotivated to go up and detail their complaints, then they should suck it up and give a good mark regardless). Event managers should banish these sorts of requests by presenters, because it's basically stuffing the vote and eliminating the value of the feedback - and I'm saying this as someone who gave honest 8s and 9s pretty much across the board.
