First names

[Mark A Mandel]

As a default working policy I try not to use people's first names unless
they've been introduced to me that way or have invited me to do so.
Often I get "Oh, call me <first name>" in response. But it's
situational, of necessity. F'rex, this evening I'm going with my wife to
a coffee (though I won't drink caffeine after dinner if I want to sleep
that night) with a group of neighbors; I expect to have lots of "Mark,
this is Fran Ferguson", and I'll say "Pleased to meet you, Fran".

Similarly, at science fiction and filk conventions first names are
normal. Hm, two exceptions spring to mind. One is panelists or such who
are appearing in some professional capacity, and whom I meet
asymmetrically as congoer (me) to program participant (them); I *think*
I'm likely to apply my default policy unless they've already established
first name for the audience. The other is badge names. I mean, if
somebody's name badge says "Badger" (as is the case with two fen I
know), that's what they want to be called!

-- Mark A. Mandel, The Filker With No Nickname
     http://world.std.com/~mam/filk.html
     (And Interfilk Guest for Consonance 2003, woo-hoo!)