As mentioned last week, October is Italian-American Heritage Month. Not only do we take a day (either the original October 12 or the second Monday) to celebrate Christopher Columbus, the Italian that most influenced America, but, like other ethnic groups, we spend the entire month honoring those who immigrated to the United States centuries after the first Italian discovered a brand new world.
This is the second in a series of columns on “the Big Three,” the three institutions that, though they to some extent describe all Americans, speak especially to the cultural heritage of Italian-Americans.
Recall the meaning of “Italian-American.” It represents an acknowledgment that you are Continue Reading “The Italian-American Triumvirate: #2 – Country”
The Compliment That Caught Me Speechless
Then I remembered. We had only one microphone. It was on a cord. My vision for the panel was more of a conversation than a series of mini-presentations. Passing a mic between each panelist would stunt the informal back-and-forth I wanted to achieve. What could I do?
When the panel began, I asked each person to speak without a microphone to test if the audience in the back of the room could hear us. They could, so I told everyone we wouldn’t be using the mic. That’s when a lady sitting in the front said, “Will you be able to keep your voice loud? Whenever a presenter decides to go without a mic, they start loud, but their voice invariably gets quieter as the presentation goes on.”
I stopped dead in my tracks, looking at her straight in the eye. Then, channeling my inner Continue Reading “The Compliment That Caught Me Speechless”