Last month my e-tech talk was right after Peter Biddle and Cory Doctorow’s session. The schedule gave me 10 minutes to set up so I got up there as soon as they finished. This is always a perfect storm, as there are often people waiting to chat with the previous speaker, the speaker him/herself loving their moments of glory, while I’m trying to get my slides going and make sure nothing has exploded. They all want nothing more than to stay, and I want nothing more than for them to leave. (This drama is repeated hourly at every conference everywhere).

I hop on stage but hang back, trying not to be rude – first thing Cory says to me is “Sorry for running late.” I check the time – they finished a minute early.

Sure, in the grand scheme it’s trivia – but anyone gracious enough to worry about me while stepping down from the podium, on time, deserves kudos. Being nice when everyone is watching is one thing, but when there’s no one around is something else entirely.