I didn’t say anything to her afterwards. No, they didn’t have a turn-off-your-cell-phone announcement.
“Doesn’t sound like she disturbed others (except you). The speaker is a big boy. He’ll get over it.”
That’s my thought. If she’s not making noise or distracting others, she can decide what to do. You don’t have to invite her in the future, of course.
I do a lot of public speaking. It’s MY job to hold the audience’s attention. If a lot of cell phones come out, then I’m doing something wrong. But if one or two people tune out, so be it. In any line of work where you give speeches, you can’t take that kind of thing personally.
Not your circus, not your monkey.
I am at a high tech conference this week. We went from one session to another. I did notice that when the speaker was not interesting then people just started pulling out their smart phone. It was very noticeable and was rude.
While I agree the speaker’s job is to hold the audience’s attention, I am also of the view that the audience if polite and decently brought up should do their utmost to make a visible effort to be as attentive as they can be. Looking up one’s cell phone, playing with electronics or reading a book goes well beyond merely being inattentive…it’s an active effort to completely disengage with the speaker. THAT’S what makes those acts rude.
Incidentally, while I nudged my older friend in time before his boss had a chance to notice him nodding off, I later heard a few of his colleagues weren’t lucky and ended up being on that boss’ s&*tlist for a while…including a few who ended up eventually being canned by him for some infraction…whether substantive or perceived.