Genii Weblog

Out on stage, baring all

Sat 31 Jan 2009, 07:32 AM



by Ben Langhinrichs
You're young (19?), you're female, you're pretty (you hope), and you have applied for a job as a pole dancer, a stripper with dance moves.  You've practiced and practiced... at home in front of your mirror, but the owner has asked you to the nightclub to talk on a Friday night.  You meet him backstage, peering nervously out at the drunken, leering males packing the nightclub.  The owner looks you up and down, nods slightly and says, "OK, why don't you head out on stage and show them what you've got."

Sheer terror fills you and you barely manage to gasp, "What?  In front of all those men?"

"That's the job, sweetie!" he says with a bit of a leer.

So, that is roughly the feeling I have right now.  Yesterday afternoon, after a few weeks of showing a demo here and there (highly controlled) and posting snarky posts on my blog (completely controlled), I released the first beta of iFidelity for Lotus Notes.  No special confidentiality agreements.  No real control anymore.  Today, I woke up to find the first blog post with a beta tester, Peter von Stockel, posting the results of his first test.  It even sounds like it went well and he was impressed, but as internally I chant mindless mantras such as "Wisdom of crowds" and "All publicity is good publicity", what I am really feeling is...

As you slowly step onto the stage and try to look composed and like this doesn't bother you a bit, the howls and shouts start.  On the outside, you give a sultry smile (you hope), but on the inside, you wonder, "What if they don't like me?  Worse, what if they do like me?  What have I gotten myself into?"

Would you like a front row seat to the show?

Copyright © 2009 Genii Software Ltd.

What has been said:


777.1. Neil Agate (01/31/2009 08:06 PM)

sorry Ben I jst can't get past the thought of you pole dancing so I'll have to come back and read this later !!

cheers,

Neil


777.2. Rodney Scott (01/31/2009 08:45 PM)

Admittedly, I can't even begin the picture of Ben pole dancing, but he describes it so well that you know he's had experience.


777.3. Ben Langhinrichs (02/01/2009 04:12 AM)

Sadly for those whose fantasy lives now include me on stage, I've never even been to a show such as this, although I think I might have seen Demi Moore do something similar. I've also never been female and pretty. I simply tried to come up with an image that would both describe my feelings and appeal to your more prurient natures (sex sells, right?)


777.4. Mike Smith (02/02/2009 04:40)

As long as you keep your artistic integrity Ben, and wear something with sequins...