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Typing-gate: Stop all the blogs (I’m trying to listen to the presentation about blogs)

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As reported on by Mike Butcher on Vecosys, my super-loud typing habits have met with disapproval at the Guardian Changing Media Summit:

And possibly some conference controversy as Antony Mayfield was asked to ’stop typing’ by a delegate who appears not to understanding someone might be blogging a conference about changing media… Perhaps she didn’t get the memo.

Apart from cotton wool on me finger-tips I’m not sure what I can do. Any suggestions as to what else I can do to lessen the irritation to my fellow delegates?

: :UPDATE: Travolution also has the story. Oh, the shame…

Technorati tags: noisy typing, ,
Antony Mayfield

12 responses to “Typing-gate: Stop all the blogs (I’m trying to listen to the presentation about blogs)”

  1. Interactions - Creative Strategies for Business Avatar
    Interactions – Creative Strategies for Business

    Changing Media Summit in London

    I’m currently at the Guardian Changing Media Summit in London. So far I’ve learned that: Twitter is soooo passé The Guardian doesn’t have wifi The Chatham House rules don’t rule in an age of changing media It is possible to…

  2. Interactions - Creative Strategies for Business Avatar
    Interactions – Creative Strategies for Business

    Changing Media Summit in London

    I’m currently at the Guardian Changing Media Summit in London. So far I’ve learned that: Twitter is soooo passé The Guardian doesn’t have wifi The Chatham House rules don’t rule in an age of changing media It is possible to…

  3. Dan Greaves Avatar
    Dan Greaves

    You are, are you not, ex-Text 100? So am I and I am regularly harangued for typing loudly.

    Nothing wrong with being passionate about your work, is what I tell ’em.

  4. Antony Mayfield Avatar
    Antony Mayfield

    Ex-Text I am, yes indeed.

    Maybe that’s where it all began. They used to stop our rations if the volume of keyboard bashing dropped below the minimum decibel level.

    They damaged us all…

  5. One Man & His Blog Avatar
    One Man & His Blog

    Blogging at conferences: too loud?

    Meanwhile, at a conference the other side of the Atlantic, Anthony Mayfield is being chastised for typing too loudly There’s three of us on this table at Blogher. We’re all blogging. Just as well we’re quiet typists….

  6. Suw Charman Avatar
    Suw Charman

    You weren’t the only one harangued for typing. Kevin told me that he got hassled too, and we both got dirty looks in the radio session as well.

    What is wrong with these people?

  7. amelia Avatar
    amelia

    And my damn battery went dead and I asked whether they had any powerpoint outlets for bloggers, but they looked at me as though I was speaking a foreign language.
    Though I have to say I was quite impressed that I got an email this morning from Alan Rusbridger which I found quite exciting!

  8. Ian Fenn Avatar
    Ian Fenn

    Suw: What is wrong with these people?

    Perhaps the people who complained have auditory processing disorder. If that’s the case, they would have had a great deal of trouble hearing the presentation above the background noise of the typing. APD is a hidden disability and incurable. Asking you to stop or be quieter is all a sufferer could have done….

  9. Antony Mayfield Avatar
    Antony Mayfield

    Ian: thanks for raising that: I’d not heard of the condition.

    Given the trend for people to be using their laptops at conferences I think there may be a need for typing sections.

    I should add that there were two people next to me typing who weren’t asked to stop so I think it was my annoyingly loud keyboard bashing rather than any medical problem – but who knows?

  10. Antony Mayfield Avatar
    Antony Mayfield

    Get you, Amelia!

    On the power front I highly recommend 9 cell batteries if you have a PC – one of those and a standard battery and you can get by with only fleeting dalliances with power outlets…

  11. Ian Fenn Avatar
    Ian Fenn

    Anthony: No worries. Even people who have it sometimes don’t realise. I got to 36 years old before finding out. There isn’t a clinical trial for it in the UK yet, though it’s recognised as a hidden disability, so even GPs are unaware of it. I wasn’t having a go at you at all – just responding to Suw’s comment and the original Vecosys post. All the best, Ian.

  12. Ewan McIntosh Avatar
    Ewan McIntosh

    Why not try changing from the BBC Micro onto something less clunky? ;-)

    My problem used to be a sqeaky spacebar but it seems to have been fixed when I sent it off for a hard disk replacement. I am conscious, though, of typing by squeezing the keys like a court reporter. Not the easiest thing to do, and now I’m going to be even more self conscious… :-(

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