Book Events – You get out what you put in ……

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Chatting with some Taylor & Seale authors at the Florida Heritage Book Festival.

It is amazing how different folks can look at the same object and have an entirely different view point on what they’ve just seen. A good example of that is what you hang on your wall. Salvador Dali appeals to some folks, Van Gogh turns on others, and Monet pushes peoples buttons. I’m a “Dogs playing poker,” kind of guy.

My experience at the Florida Heritage Book Festival told me that paintings aren’t the only thing that we see very differently. Talking to some of the participants and attendees at this book event told me it inspired highly differing opinions. I’ve selected a few that vary a bit.

On parking:

“I rode around these one way streets until I was seasick. I really thought I’d run out of gas before I found a spot.”

“Wasn’t parking easy? I just followed the map and zap.”

On the facility:

“What a disappointment! Blah! Blah! Blah! I thought the room we got put in was like a slaughter house holding pen.”

“There was plenty of room for us and the visitors, it was clean, and the temperature was just right.”

On what was provided:

“We sure didn’t get much for our $XXX.”

“I’m glad I didn’t have to pay extra for electricity.”

On the same speaker:

“Damn, that guy is a long winded, self impressed turkey (substitute wording). He was doing Willie’s Much Ado About Nothing without being funny.”

“I really liked XXXXXXXX’s talk. He provided enough detail to understand his presentation.”

On St Augustine:

“This is an old creepy place.”

“Can’t you just feel the history here? I could spend days walking around and soaking this place up.”

On customer’s roaming the book tables:

“The young ones don’t have any money. The old ones look like they smell a fart and all have locks on their wallets and purses. Selling was mission impossible.”

“Wasn’t the crowd great? They were talkative and wanted to exchange ideas. And they bought books!”

Did we all really attend the same event? Let me enlighten you on some possible reasons why each person had different opinions for each issue.

Parking/one person looked at the map provided; the other didn’t keep his paperwork. Facility/one person brought a box of books (not even a table cloth); the other had a display, table covering, and handouts. What was provided/one person borrowed money for lunch from me; the other offered to buy mine. Speaker/one took notes; one didn’t. St. Augustine/one was playing “Candy Crush” on a cell phone; the other spent time talking to potential customers. Customers/One sat with arms folded and didn’t say much except to comment on the size of a rump or other body parts; the other fellow tipped his top hat and took a real interest in those who passed.

Could the possible difference be what you put in, you get out?

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