That was the Day of the Dead that was

Many, many thanks to everyone who came along to our Day of the Dead celebration last night. We were temporarily beset by technical and practical nightmares, but it all came together in the end in its own spontaneous way.

I was a little unsure about how my info-heavy talk would go down following the wonderful party vibe that kicked everything off (thanks to Stephen and Allison’s voodoo ceremonials). I was amazed that everyone kept a respectful quietness going throughout. Maybe everyone fell asleep! Judging by the lively and mixed feedback I got, thankfully not. Though Donal Ruane and Dave Luke’s much livelier talks got people going.

The biggest disappointment of the night was undoubtedly the question and answer section being squeezed out by time constraints. Since starting public speaking, it’s always seemed to me that actual talks are best as preludes to Q & A, something to get people sparked up enough to start thinking and questioning. I sorely missed that group interaction. Next time we’ll make a point of it.

Of course the whole night was an experiment in treading the line between spiritual celebration, intellectual melting-pot and boozy shindig. It came off for me; hope you had a great time.