An audience with Anna Fox 7th May 2013

Attended this study day at the University for the Creative Arts in Farnham Surrey.  I have to be careful that my comments are not coloured by the horrendous 123 mile car journey endured on my way there. (It was equally as bad on the way back.) However it does raise the question of the worth of such visits when costed against the cost and hassle of trying to get there. My experience based on a number of study visits over the years has, overall, been positive because the 'good times' have outweighed the 'bad times' but it remains in the balance.

Having arrived just in time for the meeting with others who had arrived at the same time I have to say that the welcome lacked a certain warmth. Perhaps a very brief explanation of where were going and why may have helped. Obviously there was no time for the exchange of the usual pleasantries or a verbal explanation of what we were doing there and what it was hoped we would get from the afternoon.

The sense of chaos and lack of caring was not helped by the very poor quality of the projected images. Despite the best efforts of Professor Fox and a technician summoned to sort things out very little changed so that we were subjected to images where the colours were wrong (Professor Fox's response) and far too bright. It was impossible to make any realistic judgement of what was being shown. I was always taught that it is essential to test all equipment fully before lecturing and to have at least a workable knowledge of the technicalities involved. To fail to do this was likely to give the impression that you were unprepared and had a low opinion of your audience. It is also not very helpful to offer the audience printed images in a book form of what was being projected if the lighting in the lecture theatre is dimmed and dominated by the over bright projection.

I am not sure whether Professor Fox was thrown by the problems created by the poor projection, her apparent inability to use the provided equipment and the constant breaks in the flow of her talk necessitated by trying to sort out the mess that was being created or whether she was under-prepared. Whatever the cause I personally was left unsure of what was the overall message - if indeed there was one. A number of important issues were raised but never seemed to be discussed. Overall the whole experience was a massive disappointment.