It doesn't help to know how the sausage is made . . . especially if you're the meat. But this year was a good year with lots of happy people. Herewith, some highlights in random order:
- Poor shoe choices impacted my experience right from the beginning. I wore my old white bucks on Thursday and by the end of the day, unexpectedly, I was near hobbling. After two solid hours of sleep, I awoke in my hotel room with a super-raging headache that nothing could help. For the rest of the weekend I wore natural linen espadrilles that a) didn't go with my dark suit, and b) didn't necessarily provide that much support, but c) gave my feet room to expand and ensured my survival. Ladies are heroines to do what they do in heels. But I got my second wind by Friday evening, and experienced no further headaches.
- I was able to thwart a hack of the 50th reunion class portrait by a Known Troublemaker. While confrontation is well out of my comfort zone, I had to approach him and inform him that he was not a member of the class (which obviously he knew) and that he would not be in the photograph. Result: while I was off to round up an additional staffer, Known Troublemaker was escorted out of the picture. Disappointed to learn while writing this that the second rule of hacking is not "Don't get caught," which I thought it was.
- After all these years at ye Instytytte and 15 years of working with 50th reunions, I had never worked Commencement. Beyond getting to stop in the Court for ten minutes in 2007, I'd never seen the action. This year, I was assigned to staff the 50th procession, and even brought up the end of the line with another colleague. Yes, it's exciting! Also, it was hot, but that's better than rain.
- A well-run box office at Pops. We get compliments from their management every year.
- As many of you know, this spring I was working with the special effects guy from the iconic 2001: Ye Spyce Yddyssyy for our program this year. Through no fault of his or mine, the program went through several iterations and changes of players, but the final result - a 15-minute film including hundreds of still images of the making of the film from his private collection, all underscored by music from the film performed live by the Pops - surpassed anything that had been considered previously. I saw him at intermission (see ablove) and he was radiant, never having seen his work set to live music. A remarkable success all around, as he was mobbed by fans.
- Last year I was asked for the first time to record the voiceover for the Big Luncheon thank-you video, and I was pleased to be invited to do so again this year. And I will not deny that a big smile took over my face when I heard and saw the final results for the first time from the sound booth at the luncheon. I love getting to do that.
- My worst nightmare, in a way, is being a liberal arts major having to solve a technical problem in front of an audience of engineers. And that is exactly what happened Saturday afternoon when carefully callibrated audio/visual arrangements were thwarted by a speaker who closed a laptop. Agony! It is agony when you have to correct something on a laptop screen and the cursor is nowhere to be found, no matter what you do! But the a/v tech managed to solve all the problems, thank goodness, and on with the show.
- Until last year, I'd never worked with alumni who were younger than I was. Then I got assigned to the 15th reunion class, and it's been a good experience. This year I stopped into their speaking program, and I was so deeply impressed with the kaleidoscope of diversity (as opposed to the classes of mostly white men that I've always worked with) and the depths of both insight and enthusiasm that they brought to their presentations.
- I had to travel between four dinners in three locations, and the one with the shortest time, my 60th reunion class, was also the one with the most touching surprise that made me feel guilty for being unable to stay longer. Essentially they ambushed me into a presentation, making me an honorary member of their class with a fulsome speech about my work with them. I almost got teary, but I managed to hold myself together. #professionalism
- The 50th reunion gala dinner was flawlessly executed, and I was able to acknowledge the non-degreed spouses in my favorite way: with a toast. "I want to acknowledge a special group of people here who have been cast into the shadows by all the red jackets this weekend, and that's the group of people who married into the class without benefit of an MIT degree. [cheers] It takes a lot of courage to marry into MIT. They say behind every MIT graduate is an astonished mother-in-law. [laughter] But it takes good taste, too, and the experience we've had this weekend would be much less valuable and meaningful without them being a part of it. So I invite the members of the class to raise their glasses with me - to the spouses!" I could tell that some of those ladies really appreciated the appreciation.
- One of the couples I traveled with in Eastern Europe in 2014 was at the dinner, and it was great to get to catch up with them after almost four years. So exuberant!
- Near the end of the evening I was astonished when a Prominent Volunteer, a woman of Unquestioned International Eminence with whose staff I worked quite a bit, approached me and said "Put down that glass of wine, I want to give you a hug." That was just one of the loveliest surprises; I was almost speechless. Wish we'd gotten a photo.
- On the flip side, it's interesting to observe how rank affects how people respond to you. I've been at ye Instytte a long time, but I am not high up on the pyramid (and that's fine). But for some people, rank determines how they compartmentalize their responses to people.
- But the real bombshell (and I'll conclude with this) came before the Big Luncheon on Saturday. A volunteer I worked with long ago (and whose involvement has decreased solely due to health, not passion) was complaining vigorously about a couple issues (which happens - hell, I have been that volunteer myself, so I have no leg to stand on). I talked him down, and the conversation turned to the first reunion we'd worked on 20 years before. And he shocked me by saying "Robert, you know . . . you're pretty out there with your sexuality, and when we started working together I didn't have a very good opinion of gay people. Working with you changed my opinions." Frankly, I was floored. First, I had had no idea he'd even had any issues with me, so his confession came as a complete shock. And then I thought of Evie Adams in Girls Will Be Girls saying "It feels so good to make a difference."