Hecklers (was Possible future talk; interest?)

[James Knott]

Meng Cheah wrote:
> Richard Weait wrote:
>> On Sat, 2009-05-16 at 12:26 -0400, Meng Cheah wrote:
>>  
>>> Richard Weait wrote:
>>>    
>>>> On Fri, 2009-05-15 at 15:53 -0400, James Knott wrote:
>>>>        
>>>>> Talks at TLUG meetings tend to be "intermittent" because of all the
>>>>> hecklers.  ;-)
>>>>>             
>>>> Is the heckling one of the benefits of TLUG meetings?          
>>> I thought they were contributors to the talk :-)
>>>     
>>
>> Heckling presenters at TLUG is mentioned once in a while on this list
>> and during and after presentations.  I guesstimate that "attendee
>> contributions" at TLUG are two to four times more frequent than the
>> other dozen LUGs I've attended in the last year. 
>> Meng Cheah's smiley above, suggests that hecklers are not contributing
>> to the talk. 
>> Would anybody like to discuss the place of heckling at TLUG meetings? 
>> Is the heckling one of the benefits of TLUG meetings?  Is it a sign of
>> rapt attention and engagement in the presentation?  Is it a sign of
>> respect for the speaker?  Is it a benefit to the LUG in general, to the
>> attendee contributor, to the other attendees and to the speaker?    
> Robert Brockway's talk on backups is the first meeting I have attended
> for a long time.
> This absence is not due to heckling. Since I have not been attending
> the meetings, I am
> in no position to judge the present trend of meetings.
>
> If only questions are allowed, it will make for a dull meeting.
> And how do you allow a question and not allow a counterpoint or an
> illustration/experience from the trenches?
> That is what I meant as contributions, from a diverse range of
> experiences and sets of skills.
>

Some speakers request all questions and comments be held until after the
presentation.  That format works.  At TLUG, I often found the heckling
trashed the presentation.  Is that what you want?


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