Self-serving post of the day: A review of my speaking gig in Ottawa

[I held one of my salons at Bar Robo in Ottawa this past weekend. Ottawa correspondent Ross MacDonald was there and filed a report. – AC]

Alan Cross has started his speaking gigs again. They were hugely popular pre-pandemic and have started off strong with a stop in Ottawa. The gigs are described as two-hour “salon” with Alan; and that’s exactly what he delivers.

In Ottawa, and presumably at other gigs, a VIP option was also offered where for an extra $10 one received early access for a half-hour meet-and-greet where Alan walked around the room spending a few minutes with everyone having informal chat and taking selfies. Talk about cars and dogs were overheard, among music discussions. The VIP tickets also provided preferred seats at tables closer to the front.

The actual speaking gig was precisely as advertised: an opportunity for the audience to pose questions about anything alt-rock and beyond. As expected there were a few questions about artificial intelligence, concert ticket prices, and the future of radio.

There were also some great questions asking Alan about his memorabilia and music collections, life at 102.1 the Edge https://edge.ca/ , and a very popular question about the preferred music of dogs (reggae, no guitar solos) and cats (classical, again no guitar solos).

There were many fantastic stories of favourite artists, and quite a few laughs. The consensus from everyone at the Ottawa gig was that the salon was a huge success and they couldn’t wait for another one.