What a success we had for our first engagement of our 2011-2012 season! This being our first year running the Series, I was cautiously optimistic about how the evening would turn out. In my opinion, and also judging by patron feedback, the evening exceeded my expectations. I’d like to thank everyone for their kind words and for warmly welcoming us to the Series.
As far as David McCullough’s lecture, overall I thought he was very interesting and extremely charismatic. I especially related to his viewpoint on the future of education, emphasizing the importance of teachers and especially of learning history. He made me want to read more, to learn more. And judging by multiple patron comments, he had that effect on quite a few people in the audience.
Everyone seemed to agree that McCullough’s enthusiasm in his presentation gave way to (for lack of a better word) catchphrases of the evening, including “history doesn’t have to be boring” and “there is no such thing as a foreseeable future”; both of which I have repeated to friends who didn’t attend the engagement. I also couldn’t agree more with patrons that the Q&A session was clearly the most exciting part of the evening – I too will be on the lookout for a Royal typewriter.
I couldn’t have asked for a better kick-off speaker. He was not only warm and charming onstage, but he was even more so backstage (if you can believe it). I hope they are all this enjoyable to work with. And when things start to get complicated, I will always remember to look at my fish.
The following illustrates how patrons felt about the David McCullough engagement:
(1= Low / 5= High)
Lecture 4.5
Q&A 4.7
Moderator 4.5
Lighting 4.4
Acoustics 4.5
94% of audience polled felt the engagement was "money well spent".
88% of audience polled felt the night met their expectations.
Comments from the patrons:
“Mr. McCullough was a very engaging speaker and I appreciated his insights into the history of our nation as well as his experience of researching and putting together a book.”
“The engagement exceeded our expectations. We found ourselves jotting down comments, quotes and themes after we had left the engagement.”
“David McCullough is a great story teller and I appreciated his praise of the teaching profession. He understands how testing and “No Child Left Behind” legislation has changed the priorities in the classroom.”
“He was amazing! I LOVED HIM! What a fantastic evening. He is SO knowledgeable, so relaxed and passionate. I left feeling real good and inspired. He used no notes, stood in the middle of the stage and could have talked all night; he was so full of knowledge! Thanks for bringing him-I hope to hear him again! Just fantastic!”
David McCullough was very engaging. We were skeptical about listening to a historian but his perspective was different than the normal way of learning about our past. The most favorable part of the evening were the questions and the way he was so candid in his responses!
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