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Here is Gail’s review of today’s events…
I am so proud of my husband.
This was the day that we have been working toward. The first lecture of the series of four. On wool.
For days we have been sitting out in the public areas with me spinning and carding wool while Russell has been working on his talks or just chatting with folks. We have been promoting the heck out of this first talk. We were really concerned because the talk was exactly at dinner time.
Russell kept saying he thought I was overselling him. But I know him. I know how he performs on stage and I know his attention to detail. And now, so do all the passengers. Just based on his short intro on day two of the cruise, people have said they wanted to see his talks. All day today, folks have been coming up saying they would be there. We certainly hoped so.
One thing we wanted to do that is out of the ordinary is engage the audience on multiple levels. In addition to the lecture I had two display tables with wool in various stages of prep – from raw unwashed… to carded… to spun. I had handout sheets with terms that come from the wool trade (“on tenterhooks,” “shoddy” and “distaff” are a few), plus family names that come from the trade (“Fuller,” “Weaver,” “Shaver,” “Shearer,” etc.).
I decided to hand out a piece of wool to every audience member for a demo later in the talk. Earlier in the day two passengers offered to help. True to their word, they showed up and pitched in, passing out the wool bits and directing folks to the display table.
Russell has more of a storytelling style and not a recitation of facts. He is easy to understand, his story flows and he is funny. His slides were amazing and everyone was completely engaged, laughing and answering his quips and questions. I nearly missed my cue because I was taking photos.
I was a bit nervous, but not as much as I thought I would be. All I had to do was the same thing I had been doing for the past five days – just on a larger scale. The ship was rolling and I needed to stand with the spindle between my feet, making me rather unstable. At one point Russell held me steady. But I was able to do it and didn’t fall off the stage.
One of the many couples that came up afterward said they have been on four Viking cruises and this was the best lecture they had ever seen. As we walked to dinner, people stopped us to say how much they enjoyed it. While we ate, people came over. Even the maître d’ said he heard people talking about it at dinner. Did I say how proud I am of Russell?
The big milestone has been passed. The talk is already up on the cabin TV. Hopefully word will spread, but we know folks are already waiting for the next talk.
Me? I had two desserts to celebrate.
