Scanning tweets from the current Institute of Medicine event (#iomPwP) brought a poem to mind:
Tell all the Truth but tell it slant —
Success in Circuit lies
Too bright for our infirm Delight
The Truth’s superb surprise
As Lightning to the Children eased
With explanation kind
The Truth must dazzle gradually
Or every man be blind —
Emily Dickinson (#1263)
If I can’t be there, I want people to not only report what speakers say, what audience members ask, but what they (the correspondent) thinks. One reason I follow Dave Clifford is that he seems to regard these events out of the corner of his eye and he tweets like he’s whispering (sometimes wicked) asides to a friend.
I, for one, am happy to add what I think – sometimes in the form of “(Y’think??)” Maybe that goes without saying.
What does she mean by “success in Circuit”?
You are another one I follow with glee! If I had more time, I’d make a list and change it according to topic or event.
As for the meaning of that line, I’ll point to Tips for Reading Dickinson (read the poem 3x, set aside expectations for “meaning”…) and leave it there for now.
So, I already started meta-ing, e.g.: “Someone needs to say… doesn’t this “consent to share” issue boil down to “Whose data IS it, anyway??”?”
So that becomes a SIDE conversation, for observers (ahem), but it doesn’t get heard by the IN the rooms (and stream-watchers) (and A/V records)
Hm.
Yes. Where are stories being told? Where is meaning awarded? Whose bright eyes are watching the proceedings? Who gets to say what the event meant?
For example, here’s my personal take on an Institute of Medicine event in 2009:
http://e-patients.net/archives/2009/10/superheroes-and-rock-stars-at-the-institute-of-medicine.html
And here’s the formal archive of the same event:
http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=12868
Many kinds of stories to tell, to share, to remember.
oh jeeze, if I compare *my* record with YOUR super-astutes, I’ll just shoot myself. My mom’s smart, but yours is a hyper-observant journalist. 🙂