Show & Tell's format allows anyone to talk about an object of personal significance for up to three minutes. The time limit has never been strictly enforced — there's no gong that sounds at the three-minute mark, no trap door that opens up beneath the speaker — but the idea is to keep things moving, let everyone have a turn, and discourage extended theatrics.
For the first 21 months of Show & Tell's existence, those three minutes were measured by a three-minute hourglass timer that I had purchased in the fall of 2010. It was a handy little device, literally and symbolically, and I liked the idea of each speaker — as well as the audience — being able to see the sands of time slipping away during a presentation.
As I was preparing for this month's Show & Tell event on Sept. 12, however, I couldn't find the timer. I probably left it behind at Freddy's back in August, or maybe it just fell out of my bag at some point, or whatever. In any case, it was gone. There was no time to procure a new one, so the digital timer that I use in my kitchen was pressed into emergency Show & Tell service. It was fine from a functional standpoint, but it lacked the charm of the old timer.
So the other day I went out and got myself a new three-minute hourglass timer (along with an extra one, in case I lose the new one). As you can see in the photo shown above, it has the added bonus of matching the color scheme of this web site. It will make its Show & Tell debut at Freddy's on Oct. 10. Hope to see you there.
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