Ken Burns program a huge disappointment

I was very disappointed with the Ken Burns program at Columbia HS last night.  I was looking forward to hearing a spirited exchange between Ken and the audience.  Instead the moderator Muhammad asked only a few simple questions submitted by students. The program was scheduled for 7-9 PM.  It started at 7:15 and ended at 8:45 with no attempt to include the general audience.  

What made you think there would be a discussion between Burns and the audience? How would that work considering the size of the audience? Every seat was taken.

I was very pleased with it and yours is the first criticism I've heard.

I wasn't there. Seems fair to say that they could have had a brief Q&A with the audience, which is pretty common. But none of the promotions for this event promised or even suggested that was going to happen.

I thought it was nice to use questions from CHS students.  In my experience, random audience questions are poorly worded, more of a statement, or ask something that has already been answered.  For example,last year at a talk by Ron Chernow at Drew, one woman spoke for several minutes, explaining how she was related to the Schuyler family.  There was no question.

NJPAC has a good technique for their speaker series - about 30 minutes into the presentation ushers collect questions written on cards distributed at the start.  Then at the end a moderator asks the speaker selected questions.  

I would have liked more of a give and take between Dr. Muhammad and Mr. Burns, but enjoyed the evening.  More importantly, I'm sure it was a very successful fundraiser for our libraries.  

EBennett said:

For example,last year at a talk by Ron Chernow at Drew, one woman spoke for several minutes, explaining how she was related to the Schuyler family.  There was no question.

I found it inspiring and fascinating.  Opening it up to the audience would have wasted time.  I hung on his every word.  He is a national treasure.

Having moderated discussions in the past, allowing “random” questions is a perilous approach. The urgency the questioner feels to get “called on” is often inversely proportional to the relevance of the question, or, as pointed out, soliloquy.

Remember that kid in college who would wax philosophical on his views of the material the expert at the front of the room was trying to share with the 100 other people in the room? He was at CHS last night, and there’s no telling what disguise he was wearing.

I went to college with Ken Burns. Is he still cutting his hair with a soup bowl?

apple44 said:

EBennett said:

For example,last year at a talk by Ron Chernow at Drew, one woman spoke for several minutes, explaining how she was related to the Schuyler family.  There was no question.

Frankly, I typically find the audience questions section of any talk to be a waste of time.  The cliché that "there are no stupid questions" was coined by someone who never sat through audience questions at the end of a lecture.  

tangodancer said:

I was very disappointed with the Ken Burns program at Columbia HS last night.  I was looking forward to hearing a spirited exchange between Ken and the audience.  Instead the moderator Muhammad asked only a few simple questions submitted by students. The program was scheduled for 7-9 PM.  It started at 7:15 and ended at 8:45 with no attempt to include the general audience.  

They're both on Twitter. You can practically tell them this to their faces.

https://twitter.com/KenBurns/status/939722006840446976

The_Soulful_Mr_T said:

I went to college with Ken Burns. Is he still cutting his hair with a soup bowl?

Go to the next event with him where the audience is allowed to ask questions and ask him yourself.

They opened the doors really late. Then there was a line out to the sidewalk even at the time it was supposed to begin. Then there were a bunch of speeches. Then after a brief intro they showed six clips from his productions. And only then did the discussion start. 

What there was of it was really great; but it was severely shorter than it should have been. I came away disappointed only because I wanted more.

Sadly, I was out of town for the Ken Burns event..  I have been to many such events at the 92nd street Y.  The audience is invited to write questions on index cards that are provided.   Then, at the end of the reading or talk the moderator chooses the best questions and the guest answers them.  When done that way, the questions are often the best part of the presentation. 

I'll admit to being mildly disappointed that there wasn't more to the evening. I enjoyed Burns solo before the clips more than the discussion afterward. I didn't think the moderator asked more than one question from the students, but maybe I didn't notice him consulting the cards; I found that conversation to be a bit glib and disappointing, compared to when Burns was speaking solo.

On a side note, @EBennett, since you brought it up, I think the NJPAC moderator is terrible. He can't respond intelligently to anything the speaker says, maybe because he doesn't have a handle on the issues (?), and he'll ask an audience question that the speaker has just answered, because he's not paying attention, or something. 

I agree with a poster above.  My only disappointment was that it ended sooner than I was ready for it to end.  And that’s from someone who nods off during movies in the theatre!   I thought he was that good.