Tuesday, March 1, 2011

John Hofmeister Review


While the feedback from patrons on the John Hofmeister lecture was somewhat varied based on one's political affiliation and belief system, everyone in attendance agreed positively on one subject: his passion.

In producing this series for over five plus seasons, I cannot remember any other speaker orating with such passion and verve. His energy and passion toward his belief for energy policy reform was felt all throughout the theater. From time to time, our distinguished guests are accused of "leaning on their celebrity", "mailing it in", or "not taking a stand". From my own viewpoint, Mr. Hofmeister not only took a stand; he wouldn't leave it for the 90 minutes he was on stage.

In the end, you may not have agreed with everything he said, but his sobering talk about energy use, policy, and conservation hopefully opened your eyes and made you think and question your thought process.

At any rate, the following illustrates how patrons felt about the John Hofmeister engagement:

(1= Low / 5= High)

Overall Experience 4.4

Lecture 4.3

Q&A 4.4

Lighting 4.4

Acoustics 4.6


88% of audience polled felt the engagement was "money well spent".

92% of audience polled felt the night met their expectations.


Comments from the patrons:

"Disappointing rehash of old familiar facts. Any well read news and current events junkie like myself already knew most of his "facts." Pretty much what I should have expected from a career rip off artist from a rip off industry."

"As a fairly liberal minded person & believer in Global Warming etc. It was good to hear the issues from a different perspective. I think he presented his case well."

"Wow, what a remarkable speaker - so much pragmatic knowledge about such an important topic, very effectively communicated. Great stuff, I learned a lot. Hopefully those who came in close-minded opened their minds a bit during the talk."

"ALL of us thought he was great. It was very encouraging to see that there is someone willing to tilt against the Washington Windmills and try to get the US to develop an energy policy that produces rather than prevents energy generation. I am very glad you had him on."