Dear John
How long do you need to know someone before you can call them "Friend"? I know it sounds so strange, but really, if you think about it, how long is it? Days? Weeks? Years? And what constitutes being a friend? Sharing an experience? Learning from one another? Laughing together?
I met John Iliff this past February. He came to our NJLA IT section meeting at the library where I was working, and put together this fantastic program on podcasting for us. We, the IT team, had the idea of a podcasting station for the upcoming spring conference, and John, a library technology consultant from the company Palinet, helped us to run with it. He was so energetic. Charismatic. Instantly warm and generous, he explained things in a sharing way -- not in a "I have the knowledge and you dont" kind of way. He joked with us. He listened to us. And he helped us to develop not just the podcasting station, but 2 other programs for the conference as well.
At the conference, 12 days ago, I introduced him to the standing room only crowd. And again, he delivered a knock-out presentation, easing the crowd through the complexities of RSS feeds, podcasting, and all its intricacies. He was so wiped out from the full days of conferencing, he did that presentation for us from the floor -- and laughed all the while about it, and made the audience feel really at ease, and I heard them after saying "that guy is so cool." He really was cool.
Earlier that day, John and I talked for about a half hour or more about library PR, how to get the word out, how to get the excitement to the people about what libraries can do - Are doing - with technology. Talking to him, you knew you were on the right track - that your thoughts about whats wrong and whats right were being heard. I left the conference thinking that John would be someone who I would talk with and learn from throughout my career.
John died this weekend. I dont know how, I dont know when. I dont know much of anything really about him at all other than what I've just shared with you. But John and I shared an experience. We learned from one another. We laughed. And he was my friend.
I will miss you John
I met John Iliff this past February. He came to our NJLA IT section meeting at the library where I was working, and put together this fantastic program on podcasting for us. We, the IT team, had the idea of a podcasting station for the upcoming spring conference, and John, a library technology consultant from the company Palinet, helped us to run with it. He was so energetic. Charismatic. Instantly warm and generous, he explained things in a sharing way -- not in a "I have the knowledge and you dont" kind of way. He joked with us. He listened to us. And he helped us to develop not just the podcasting station, but 2 other programs for the conference as well.
At the conference, 12 days ago, I introduced him to the standing room only crowd. And again, he delivered a knock-out presentation, easing the crowd through the complexities of RSS feeds, podcasting, and all its intricacies. He was so wiped out from the full days of conferencing, he did that presentation for us from the floor -- and laughed all the while about it, and made the audience feel really at ease, and I heard them after saying "that guy is so cool." He really was cool.
Earlier that day, John and I talked for about a half hour or more about library PR, how to get the word out, how to get the excitement to the people about what libraries can do - Are doing - with technology. Talking to him, you knew you were on the right track - that your thoughts about whats wrong and whats right were being heard. I left the conference thinking that John would be someone who I would talk with and learn from throughout my career.
John died this weekend. I dont know how, I dont know when. I dont know much of anything really about him at all other than what I've just shared with you. But John and I shared an experience. We learned from one another. We laughed. And he was my friend.
I will miss you John
posted by sara @ 11:31 PM
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