2001-06-14 - 1:57 p.m.
Okay, fourth day of a five day conference, and I'm a little burned out. Half-day tomorrow, and that's that. Right now I'm still scheduled to return home Sunday evening, but that might change. I'll be checking on it after I finish this post.
Every day, the tempo has been pretty much the same. Conference sessions and keynote speakers during the day, some of which are great and others not so great [yawn]. Of all the conferences I attend, only two per year are for my own professional good, and this is one of them. Thankfully, I don't have to stand around in a booth while people mill about hoping to snatch one of the give-aways I'd be glad to give them if they'd ask so that I wouldn't have to pack them back up and ship them back to home-base. THAT gets old, when only one in something like twenty people over the course of hours actually wants to engage you in a technical discussion. Whatever.
Nightly since I've been here, the pace has also been essentially the same. Late networking dinner or scheduled conference evening event, following by milling about smartly in the quarter. I can see how I might think I would want to live here, what with so many things I like concentrated into such a small area. And, as opposed to somewhere like New York City, the people are in no hurry to get anything done, which is a pace I sometimes really appreciate but rarely get to enjoy anymore.
Last night, we (the two of us still here) hooked up with a consulting partner of ours. The president/founder is a guy the same age as I am, and we're both Celtophiles with a lot of other similar interests in common. So, we're hanging out on Bourbon Street in front of Pat O'Brien's, and he's playing his bagpipes (his Scottish smalls ... he left his Uilleann pipes at home) for, like, three hours straight. THAT was a lot of fun. And this guy's the owner of his own company that employs fifty high-end consultants, standing on the street playing his pipes and getting tips in his pipe case. I especially liked the fact that the crowds came to and moved past us, because my feet had had it. And watching bead exchange negotiations was pretty fascinating as well.
Hot as shit, frozen tasty beverage in hand, sitting on the curb with good company and having a great time. Life should always be so casual and fun.
Gotta run. More sessions this afternoon. TTFN!
Q
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