Kristol Clear #147--College Visits
Feb 27, 2017 16:32:02 #
Kristol Clear #147--College Visits
From an E to me;
From Hyde Park to Bloomington...
"Ask anyone who's on the lecture circuit to compare speaking to business groups with speaking at colleges, and he'll tell you the same thing—if he's candid. The business talks tend to be pretty well-paid and not too demanding (shush—don't tell anyone!). The corporation or trade association treats you well, probably flying you business class, sending a car service to pick you up at the airport, putting you up at a nice hotel, inviting you to a fancy cocktail party or dinner—and asking at most an hour of your time for a speech and Q&A. The audience is polite and at least pretends to be attentive and appreciative. In general, the hosts tend to flatter you and indulge the conceit that you're an important guy whose time is valuable (even if it isn't!). And they hand you a nice check on your way out the door.
Then there are the colleges. You fly coach, you're picked up at the airport by a nice kid driving his second-hand Camry, and you spend a whole day at work—guest-teaching a class, having coffee with the College Republicans, paying a courtesy call on the university president, lunching in the school cafeteria with a group of honors students, doing an interview the college radio station, and finally—exhausted!—giving a 45-minute lecture and then taking questions for an hour from professor and students trying to trip you up. Then you collapse into bed at your okay-but-not-lavish hotel near campus, where the four high school seniors staying in the room next door are expressing their excitement about their college visit (and being away from their parents) at the top of their lungs until 2:00 a.m. When the check comes three months later (college bursars take their time), it's usually for a relatively modest sum.
And you know what? The college visit is more fun."
Bill Kristol
From an E to me;
From Hyde Park to Bloomington...
"Ask anyone who's on the lecture circuit to compare speaking to business groups with speaking at colleges, and he'll tell you the same thing—if he's candid. The business talks tend to be pretty well-paid and not too demanding (shush—don't tell anyone!). The corporation or trade association treats you well, probably flying you business class, sending a car service to pick you up at the airport, putting you up at a nice hotel, inviting you to a fancy cocktail party or dinner—and asking at most an hour of your time for a speech and Q&A. The audience is polite and at least pretends to be attentive and appreciative. In general, the hosts tend to flatter you and indulge the conceit that you're an important guy whose time is valuable (even if it isn't!). And they hand you a nice check on your way out the door.
Then there are the colleges. You fly coach, you're picked up at the airport by a nice kid driving his second-hand Camry, and you spend a whole day at work—guest-teaching a class, having coffee with the College Republicans, paying a courtesy call on the university president, lunching in the school cafeteria with a group of honors students, doing an interview the college radio station, and finally—exhausted!—giving a 45-minute lecture and then taking questions for an hour from professor and students trying to trip you up. Then you collapse into bed at your okay-but-not-lavish hotel near campus, where the four high school seniors staying in the room next door are expressing their excitement about their college visit (and being away from their parents) at the top of their lungs until 2:00 a.m. When the check comes three months later (college bursars take their time), it's usually for a relatively modest sum.
And you know what? The college visit is more fun."
Bill Kristol
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