After the Conference

business-conference-learning-7095Just wrapped up a conference around here–well, technically, it was St. Patrick’s weekend–but it takes a few weeks to wrap up things, right?

Or maybe that’s just me. I’m one of the behind-the-scenes people at the conference now and oh. My. Word. Lots going on behind those curtains!

Of course, all most attendees see is the smoothly flowing conference, the practically perfect workable AV system, the charming faculty and helpful volunteers. It all goes mostly like clockwork, the gears fitting together nicely to make a great conference. But it takes a lot of grease to get that job done and so I need a lot of rest after the conference to recuperate.

I’m not sure I needed almost three weeks back in the day but I’m not going to dive deep into that pondering. I’m just going to thank my lucky stars that my legs aren’t cramping anymore (and someone, please remind me not to wear new boots to a conference). I’m reading one of the books I purchased: Ranger Nader and the Sunstruck Phantom by Kam Karem, (pseudonym of friend, TK Read). Take a look here for more on this fast-paced science fiction adventure. And I’m fixin’ to deliver all the board books I purchased for all my friends with babies/grand-babies. (There are four of ’em!)

And very soon, I’ll start writing again, applying everything I learned in between running around like a chicken with my head cut off. For now, I was able to write a post at the Muffin: “What Kind of Conference Attendee Are You?” and…um…this post right here.

And I feel pretty darn good about that.

(Photo by Startup Stock Photos from Pexels–thanks!)

When Copying Crosses The Line

2011-09-01 14.32.13When my Junior Halls get together–especially the male contingency–they talk. A LOT. It’s a barrage of words and laughter and shouting and more laughter. But one thing they do that makes me crazy is quote lines from clips that are out there in Webland. Honestly, I don’t even know where half of this stuff comes from except that it’s a video, somewhere, somehow.

It’s like a secret language. Except it’s a secret language they’ve lifted from the brains of other creators. And so invariably, at some point, I will say (and by say I mean shout because those guys are loud), “DO ANY OF YOU HAVE AN ORIGINAL THOUGHT IN YOUR HEAD?”

And then I remember my dad saying that to me and my brothers when we were kids. Except with us, it was TV commercials. We quoted them constantly. Even today, I can rattle off the gist of a commercial from way back in the day. And I’m pretty sure that my brothers would jump right in with me.

When we like something–whether it’s a commercial or a video clip or a recipe or a fashion–we embrace it. We learn all the words to a favorite song or we copy the look of a hairstyle we love. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery and all that. But I wonder if we have somehow blurred the lines from understanding what’s copying for fun and personal pleasure and copying  and claiming work as our own. Because that’s plagiarism, and plagiarism is becoming a real problem in our society.

Come to think of it, maybe it’s always been a big problem. Remember the gossip back in those crazy Elizabethan days about Christopher Marlowe and William Shakespeare? Who wrote what first? And I wouldn’t be surprised to find that Caveman Oog speared Cavewoman Boog when he found her copying the delicate nuances of his woolly mammoth on the cave wall and signing her X to it.

But just because we’ve been doing something unethical forever doesn’t excuse the unethical behavior. And the longer we engage in a behavior, the more it becomes entrenched, however wrong it may be. Then one day, that wrong behavior seems okay. Next thing you know, it’s not wrong at all. Everybody’s doing it so it’s all good!

Except it’s not. It wasn’t okay for Oog and Boog and it’s not okay for us. It’s always wrong to steal someone else’s hard work and claim it as your own. So we have to be vigilant about plagiarism. And that’s why I addressed “The Finer Points of Plagiarism” over at The Muffin today. I mean, it’s not a legal lesson in plagiarism or anything highly technical; it’s more of a not-so-gentle reminder that plagiarism is out there. And awareness is the first step in doing something about a problem.

As for my Junior Halls and their obsession with quoting funny videos…well, maybe that’s not so much a problem as just super annoying. Sometimes you have to walk away. (And then when they follow you, run back inside and close the door. Probably better lock it, too, just to be on the safe side.)