On having a Weird Name
With a name like Deirdre, I've become accustomed to having my name mis-spelled. It happens on mail, at work, on convention badges, and even when I get something published.
I take it in good humor, joking when I can. The best fun recently was at the Pirate-theme Capricon, where I got many laughs telling people that they'd left one of the "Arrrrrs" out of my name, until someone in registration heard the laughter and insisted on providing me with a replacement badge.
This year, at Duckon, they got my badge right--in 14 point type that no one could see at any distance--and my placards for programming wrong. I re-wrote my name on the back of the placard--but pen does not show up at a distance the way letters printed large do.
One of the panels I was on was Writing in Someone Else's World, a panel that ellenmillion had said she would have liked to hear. This prompted me to request of the audience that if they were recording, I'd appreciate if there might be some way to get a copy. No one had a recorder, but someone was taking notes, and shared them with me.
In the notes, the other three panelists were identified by name. I was "???"
"???" isn't going to help anyone find me or my work sometime later.
Should I have used the mis-spelled placard? I'm inclined to think not--Google isn't likely to find me if I'm mis-spelled, and for the time being, I need to be found online.
I suspect I'm going to feel less good humor about people getting my name wrong in the future.
Which, of course, is unlikely to be helpful.
I guess I'll have to try to figure out something constructive to do about it. But what?