Enjablog

So many stories…

Thursday night, I went out to dinner at Mango’s with a bunch of guys who work at a model basin. Food was pretty good and we stuck around for the live band after. Everyone was pretty tired though, so we all decided to head back to our respective hotels when their parking meter was about to run out.

Friday, I got in to the conference pretty early and got a head start talking to the companies. I was sent on a mission by my boss to talk to one company who releases software similar to (but better than!) the one I use for most of my analyses. And as you could see yesterday, I also accomplished my mission to acquire a giant carabiner.

The most important lesson I learned from this trip is that a lot of companies have extra cool freebies that they hide from the masses. I went around and talked to every company, regardless if I had heard of them before or if they had any connection to what my company does. Some of these companies got looked over a lot. I was greeted once with, “You’re the first person to stop here in days!” Two-day conference. Sad. Anyhow, once they got started, some of these guys would talk for 5-10 minutes. And as a reward for being polite and not walking away, I got prizes! Flashlights, mugs, a hat, a pocket calculator/notepad thingy, a flashing lanyard, fancy keychains…

I had allocated time on the last day to make a final lap around the expo to catch the companies that I didn’t get to talk to the first time around instead of going to technical papers because there were a couple timeslots that didn’t interest me. Unfortunately, everyone started taking down their booths around 2, so I didn’t get the last-minute giveaways before they packed up their boxes to leave.

And it’s also a really good thing that I didn’t fill up my suitcase on the way here. I was barely able to fit everything in there to bring home. Don’t worry, it’s all getting home.

Also, something to keep in mind next time: swimming on the last day means packing a wet swimsuit to bring home.
Next: Postcards, dueling pianos, and my day at the beach.
Today’s entry brought to you by free wifi at the Ft. Lauderdale airport. Woo!

I better not be getting sick. I woke up this morning with a stuffy nose and phlegm. It could just be the non-hypoallergenic pillows/sheets. But I can’t be sure. I’ll be so mad!