Mike Keneally's Guest Host Hall Of Fame

Ron Spiegelhalter

Field Marshal
Dancing Tour '01

Was I excited when Mike and Scott asked me to act as Field Marshal for the Dancing tour? Boy howdy, was I! It meant two things: I got to participate in organizing one of the most kick-ass tours ever, and I didn't have to be a Guest Host! Having been one before, I knew it to be a demanding task, and quite frankly the middle management job sounded a lot cushier. I'm not sure I was correct about that, but I sure did have a lot of fun doing it.

First I should mention that I was originally set to share the job with Scott Lurowist, who came into the project with as much giddy enthusiasm as I. Everyone figured it was probably a two-man job, so we agreed to co-Marshal. Unfortunately we all soon learned that I don't have much of a talent for sharing the reins. One thing led to another, and ultimately Scott resigned gracefully from the position. I can't say I blame him. However, his efforts elsewhere in the scheme of the Dancing tour should not go unrecognized. So raise a glass for Scott Lurowist, won't you? He's a hell of a Forhead (but don't tell him I called him that).

Phase one of my duties involved assembling a team of Guest Hosts, assistants, and clinic helpers for every stop on the tour. And what a team it was. I can't tell you how utterly impressed I was with everyone who participated. They are as fine a bunch of people as you're likely to find, and it was their hard work and dedication that made the tour such a success. Hopefully I'll keep this brief so you can go read their missives, which I'm sure are more relevant than this one.

Once the team was in place, it was time to kick back and delegate. I must admit it suited my ego perfectly. I give them all the grunt work, they report back to me, and then I report our progress to the head honchos and claim all the glory for myself! Sweet! No, it didn't really happen that way, but it was a relief not to be out pounding the pavement. Of course the daily email flood was its own challenge, but at least it kept me on my butt. It really worked out well for everyone involved: Scott Chatfield didn't have to add all that GH-mail to his already-insane daily agenda, and the GHs got to work with a manager who had a lot more time to offer them. And I got to sit on my butt and get thanked a lot! What could be better?

Of course the tour turned out to be a huge hit, and really my role in it was pretty minor. It was the Guest Hosts who busted ass and got the word out. I was amazed at how packed some of those venues were! So God bless the Guest Hosts. Thanks enormously to David Bokor, Brian Douglas, John Waddington, Roy Berkowitz, Michael Folz, Christine Holz, Bill Fairchild, Greg Doll, Michael Sullivan, Joe Milausnic, Tom Copson, Ritch Gagne, Chris Ingalls, Dave Wilcher, Scott Fisher, Chris Costello, Gary Davis, Jimm Poleman, J. D. Mack, Glenn Leonard, Brian Bernardini, Jim Moore, John Willcoxon, Troy Van Horn, Jedd Beaudoin, Matthew Baxter, Brock Purviance, Scott Lurowist, Scott Chatfield, Anne Leighton, and of course Mike Keneally, Bryan Beller, Marc Ziegenhagen, Evan Francis, Tricia Williams, and Nick D'Virgilio. And to the person I forgot to name here, thank you most of all. You rock my world.

ron

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