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hossjulia
Trad climber
Eastside
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yeah, you could tell Peter had a show in mind, poor guy, and I did catch some of the humor he intended to be in there.
The pictures of the ridges that flew past before he ever got any control over the situation were wanting more explanations.
The juxtaposition of the different Hulk partners was classic.
Putting on a slide show seems such a simple thing, but for anyone who's tried it, like I have, it's a lot of work! And I still have a good quality MANUAL projector that works great!
Speaking in front of a jury of your peers has got to be the worst.
Thanks Peter, it was a great turn out for a good cause and your near-death avy stories gave me goose bumps.
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ron gomez
Trad climber
fallbrook,ca
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Well said hossjulia, I think Peter DID have a manual projector as a back up, but was too far into it to start over. I spoke with Kevin after the show and he said you right next to him...sorry we didn't get to meet.
Peace
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JOEY.F
Social climber
sebastopol
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"due to technical difficulties beyond our control..."
Sounds like fun, all the same.
Have a good one, easties.
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Jaybro
Social climber
wuz real!
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Slide shows are tough. The colonel and I tag teamed one about our bigwall adventures once @ UW. He went first, a hard act to follow. He was in his element, taking sh#t to the crowd. I, was not. slideshows are challenging even when everything goes right!
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Lynne Leichtfuss
Social climber
valley center, ca
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Sheee, at least you got to be there. Lucky you guys. We stiffs had to work and do the obligations. :D
A wing and a prayer.....sometimes things click and sometimes nada. It's the being together fun, not the perfection, that makes life. IMHO Cheers !
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Peter Haan
Trad climber
San Francisco, CA
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If truth be told, speaking in public before a large audience while commanding an audio-visual stream is frankly a profession. And if climbers do enough of these shows, they do get better at it, but the task is pretty awesome and a lot can go sour really fast.
I saw Peter give his show for the John Bachar fundraiser after the terrible accident on the way back from Salt Lake City. As much as I revere Peter the show needed quite a bit more work to hold the attention of the many sophisticated climbers there.
So it's a profession, and we are amateurs and we try. And Peter C. should keep trying and we will keep digging him. He is pretty private. It frankly is the best we can do with what we have and things will get a bit better through time, I guess.
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ZeHardcore
Trad climber
San Diego, California
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When did making a slide show become a profession?
Pictures are put together, and there is a remote to go forward/backward and play/pause, similar to powerpoint.
Ideally, it is best to go through the disc that was created to make sure there are no errors in the pictures, not make it thirty minutes before the show.
Maybe just not fully prepared imo... but the stories/pictures were great to here, I still want to here about the third avalanche! There was just so much potential with all of those great pictures!!! Either way, glad to see it helped support the avalanche center.
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Captain...or Skully
Social climber
North of the Owyhees
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D'oh......Happens. Roll with it.
Technical support, anyone?
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Peter Haan
Trad climber
San Francisco, CA
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Once again, public speaking is a professional skillset and handling AV with it makes it even more so. You can put a show in a “can” (viz. DVD) but that isn’t a show. I am glad a lot of us try to do presentations; it’s our responsibility to the climbing community. But the fact is to do as well presenting as we might do climbing is mostly a hope.
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Roger Breedlove
climber
Cleveland Heights, Ohio
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I wish I were close enough to have a chance to go to attend one of Peter's slide shows. I am sorry that folks who did attend were disappointed.
As to Peter H's comments on the skills to hold the attention of a crowd, I agree. Peter refers to it as a profession, which I take to mean that it requires skills beyond the subject matter at hand, and, as is the case with all professionals, the presenter's responsibility is to the audience not himself.
Practice helps, but without a knack for public speaking, a model of good presentation of some sort has to be formed. Said another way, practicing poor presentation style just results in smooth delivery of a poor presentation.
I once heard a talented speaker who had many jokes and stories to personalize his academic points on art education. On the night I heard him, for some reason, no one in the front of the stage could hear him. Everyone in the back was laughing at all of his jokes and delivery, while all the important people in the front were sitting stone-faced. Finally someone pointed it out and many of the people in the front moved back. During this delay, the speaker gave a Monty Python derived, key work recap of the first half of his speech, rolling the slide presentation backwards with Doppler effects in his inflection to mimic a tape player. Talk about an artful response to a disaster.
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ron gomez
Trad climber
fallbrook,ca
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I will say that as a result of the Croft slide show, the Bardini Foundation was able to raise some good money. When we pulled up to Mill Creek Station the parking was packed and inside there was standing room only....think they had to put a sign outside the main door that the show was "sold Out". Was really glad to see the "community" that Peter speaks of, come out to support this cause and contribute what they could to Bardini. It was a fund raising success and after all...that's what is was...a fund raiser.
Thanks to all those that were able to come and support this event!
Peace
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rwedgee
Ice climber
canyon country,CA
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With such a wealth of experience to draw from and nearly a month to prepare it was a disaster. Verbally and tecnically. It was his 4th avalanche. If you've ever written a trip report you could do a slide show. Put a little thought, time and effort into it before you charge $10. If you're going to do it, do it right. That said I think all trip reports on the Taco should get more support.
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Lynne Leichtfuss
Social climber
valley center, ca
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I dunno, $10 for a social event where you get to have fun and see pics and hear stories....even if not perfect, seems like a good investment to me.
Heck, I would have paid 10x's that if someone could have got me there. Better thought ....thank P.Croft for taking the time.
Another Time, Lynnie
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ninjah
Big Wall climber
a van down by the river
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true tami" I like just about every thing that comes from your keyboard, I was at the show, and it was an EPIC ordeal for someone that does not have a clue on how to be masterful in presentation, with no tec skills, hell we were there for peter, not the 12 year old that was asked to come up to control the pause and stop and to no avail, peter kept us laughing, cheers
great show!
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Doug Robinson
Trad climber
Santa Cruz
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I wasn't there, but I'm with Tami. Please lighten up on Peter.
If you've ever written a trip report you could do a slide show.
Actually, writing and speaking are pretty different skills. And that doesn't count the tech side, which can be a nightmare. Show up with 3 spare bulbs, a full extra projector and stuff still goes wrong. Once my dissolve unit went out and I was re-racking slides right through the introduction. Slides get stuck; you always need a butter knife to coax em back into the tray.
Peter is a GREAT writer. Peter's ability to express what goes on at his level -- which most of us can't really glimpse -- is eye-opening. He's funny and always humble and his writing just keeps getting better. Anyone who can invoke Superman and refer unabashedly to watching gobs of TV, and who can speak convincingly of florid hallucinations that earmark being falling-down tired -- he's got it goin on.
And yeah, he's private. But I've seen Peter gather up a lot of what makes his writing great and put it right out there in public in front of an audience. Sounds like the projection got so balled up that his narrative, being keyed to the slides, went out too. I know it happens because I've been there. It sucks. And even though it wasn't your fuse that blew, you feel devastatingly responsible.
The pro has not been invented that can save you from that kind of whipper.
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ron gomez
Trad climber
fallbrook,ca
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Wedgee, can't wait till you pull off yer first slide show. I'll put in my 2 bucks to watch it, BUT......it BETTER go off PERFECT. If you don't know the WHOLE story...chill a bit. You might be better off saving yer money for a million dollar budget show, then you won't have to be so critical. For 10 bucks, I feel good to have contributed to Bardini, seen a lot of friends, had a good time and watched some legends climb in the Gorge. Not a bad deal for 10 bucks!
Peace
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dmalloy
Trad climber
eastside
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In speaking briefly with Peter and a few of the people who put on the show right after it finished, you could tell they were a bit disappointed - but not shattered or anything. It really was too bad, more because while Peter seems quite reserved and quiet, it was clear from his time on stage that he CAN spin a good yarn, get people laughing, and entertain. And certainly his life has provided the raw material necessary for a great show. So the technical stuff kept that from happening, which is just too bad for all concerned - apart from seeing a bunch of friends I was looking forward to being inspired a little, helping me get focused now on training for my summer objectives in the High Sierra.
Really, though, I think the rest of us ought to look at this as a lesson learned. I get involved in putting on some fundraisers and such around here, and I am always extremely nervous beforehand that some sort of glitch like this will pop up. That nervousness translates to getting things done ahead of time, doing a few dry runs to make sure it all works like I expect it to, and so forth. The people who put all this together all have regular jobs (well, except for Peter, but he left the tech stuff to others), and they just did not find the time to do all of that. If you are ever in their position, make sure you set aside time to check it all out ahead of time.
And from a nuts-n-bolts perspective, the other slide shows I have seen at Mill Creek have been run from a laptop. On Saturday, they tried to run the show from a DVD player, which seemed to make it harder to advance one photo at a time. So maybe the way to do these is not from a DVD player, but from a laptop - if I was helping to organize such a thing, that is what I would try first.
Last thought - if you like supporting the Bardini Foundation, right now there is someone who will match your donation to them. Double your money! So send them $20 and it will turn into $40, which will turn into more young kids getting their first chance to get out climbing and enjoy the mountains. Find them here -
http://bardini.org/bb_contact.htm
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