Old Campus at Yale University, New Haven, CT

WHEN: Saturday, June 4th, 11:30AM - 2:30PM
WHERE: near Dwight Hall, Old Campus at Yale University, New Haven, CT

WHAT: It's not a terribly pleasant thought, but I have now been out of college for ten years. Wow. In celebration of this momentous occasion, I have decided to set up the Bring Your Own Voice booth at my upcoming 10 Year Reunion at Yale. I will be asking questions like:

What is the most significant thing that has happened to you in the last ten years?

Why on earth are you attending this reunion?

What do you think will be different about your life at our 25th reunion?

I haven't completed the reading sheet yet, but this is clearly the line of questioning that makes sense for this event and I think it could get pretty interesting.
The best thing about this event will be that if I get weirded out by all the people and places from my past, I can just go inside the booth and lock the door. Problem solved.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Summary:

Number of voices recorded: 12
Reading sheets used: 11
Weather: the best yet for a BYOV event - gorgeous sun, though a bit humid
Level of success: wish I had gotten more participation, but a lot more people know about BYOV now, so that makes it a success
Records broken: # of people who should have recognized me who didn't
Photos: Check them out

I was a bit apprehensive to deal with the booth at an event such as this, but with the beautiful weather and the cooperation of the forces that make reunions happen, it turned out well. I got to spend time with many people I hadn't seen in, well, ten years, and share with them directly what I am doing with myself. "Yes, I am thirty one and am spending my time toting around a large plywood box to various locations in hopes of collecting people's voices. So what is it that you do? Ah, yes, something responsible!" Each to his or her own. I am proud of what I am doing even in light of all the other impressive things that Yale graduates are doing ten years out. I don't think I would have predicted this, and I never once felt like retreating into the booth, protected by a dead-bolt.
This event also marked the premier of the BetaBrite LED moving message sign. I bolted it right onto the booth above the door and fed it lots of interesting text about BYOV. Unfortunately, there was one technical issue that required a slight modification to the displayed messages, but overall, the sign was very cool and was effective at grabbing people's attention and explaining some stuff to people who didn't want to talk to me.

Super thanks to Georgia for the manual labor, the roof over my head, the roof over the BYOV-mobile's head, and, of course, the canine entertainment.

As usual, click below to access some ear-picked audio clips:

three words

too much

a hot box

people look different

less hair

we love each other

it's...

not related to Yale (at all, dammit)

sad to say

to protect and serve