His assistant announces office hours and book signing will begin. I grab my copy of Envisioning Information and head up to the front of the conference room. There are 2 folks ahead of me. A sign to his right says "no personal inscriptions".
Wearing a black suit jacket, white shirt and wispy hair, he looks much less like Bill Murray up close than he does from the middle of the room.
Wearing a black suit jacket, white shirt and wispy hair, he looks much less like Bill Murray up close than he does from the middle of the room.
The first guy in line produces some printouts. Office hours are a chance to get a critique. He immediately picks up a pen and starts marking up the pages.
"No boxes"
Slash.
"Thinner lines"
Slash. Slash.
"No boxes"
Slash.
"No lines"
Slash. Slash. Slash.
"NYtimes.com"
Scribble.
"No boxes"
Slash.
"NYtimes.com"
Scribble. Scribble.
Then he stops abruptly, stands up and confronts a couple in the front row.
"No cellphones. Absolutely none. Go outside and use them."
Moments later after returning to his game of chart ninja, he is visibly distracted by something in his pocket. Didn't get a good look but I am pretty sure it was a feature phone, he walks away.
Before he sits back down he goes over to the front row and apologizes. It was kind of sweet. He is obviously embarrassed.
Before he sits back down he goes over to the front row and apologizes. It was kind of sweet. He is obviously embarrassed.
When I get to the front I immediately go into "shut down in front of celebrity mode". It's one of my mutation level superpowers.
"Whats your name? What do you do and Where do you work?".
"babbley boobly bladdity blah blah" That's all that comes out before and after:
"Sir, before I read this book I was somewhat lost. It was extremely influential in my decision to get back to school and get my life back on track. Would be honored to have you sign it."
Then with a big and genuine smile Edward Tufte looks me straight in the eye and says "That's great, just great".
