Sometimes we goof up. Luckily we have detail-minded readers, like the one who sent us this email yesterday afternoon:
I value the many services provided by and respect the position held by BizBash in the events industry. Your content is informative and very helpful. It is the superior publication in the broad-based events community. I honestly have only the best thoughts and opinions of the organization. Which is why I am so surprised to see the mis-use of the words ‘lectern’ and ‘podium’ in [this story].
In [your] article examining the different styles of lecterns used during this primary season, [the] mis-use of the terms is striking. It is a common confusion among those less informed, but surprising to find in BizBash. In the simplest casual terms, industry professionals know that podiums are stood upon, while lecterns are stood behind. They are not interchangeable terms.
D'oh!The writer—a New York-based event producer—is right (as was another reader, who didn't say such nice things about us first). But you, being an industry professional, probably know that. And we should have remembered the distinction. It's in our style guide, after all. (We have now corrected the story.)
In our (feeble) defense, some dictionaries do list lectern as a synonym for podium. But, as the second reader/proofreader noted in his email, "Proper usage of terminology is the sign of true professionals." Indeed.
If you'd like to read more on the podium vs. lectern debate—and why wouldn't you?—check out this William Safire "On Language" column from 2004.
I value the many services provided by and respect the position held by BizBash in the events industry. Your content is informative and very helpful. It is the superior publication in the broad-based events community. I honestly have only the best thoughts and opinions of the organization. Which is why I am so surprised to see the mis-use of the words ‘lectern’ and ‘podium’ in [this story].
In [your] article examining the different styles of lecterns used during this primary season, [the] mis-use of the terms is striking. It is a common confusion among those less informed, but surprising to find in BizBash. In the simplest casual terms, industry professionals know that podiums are stood upon, while lecterns are stood behind. They are not interchangeable terms.
D'oh!The writer—a New York-based event producer—is right (as was another reader, who didn't say such nice things about us first). But you, being an industry professional, probably know that. And we should have remembered the distinction. It's in our style guide, after all. (We have now corrected the story.)
In our (feeble) defense, some dictionaries do list lectern as a synonym for podium. But, as the second reader/proofreader noted in his email, "Proper usage of terminology is the sign of true professionals." Indeed.
If you'd like to read more on the podium vs. lectern debate—and why wouldn't you?—check out this William Safire "On Language" column from 2004.
