It's quite possible that my favorite part of the conference happened after it officially ended. I'd missed lunch that day, so by the time the conference closed I was starving! I met up with Stacey, Keith, Ben, and others and made a bee-line for dinner. We shared a yummy meal at a little Italian spot near the Fairmont.
Once well-fed, we headed back to the bar in the Fairmont lobby for a few drinks and more conversation. Getting a bunch of Flash folk together almost always leads to great conversation. We may have been a little more boisterous than the rest of the guests at the Fairmont, but we generally behaved ourselves pretty well.
Eventually, some of our crowd had to depart. After all the farewells, a few of us grabbed a cab to Golden Gate Park. Our plan was to catch Radiohead's set at the outside lands festival. Well, it seemed like a good idea when we headed out. As we approached, however, we could see crowds of people streaming out of the park.
We quickly realized that if we got out of the cab, we'd be stranded...possibly for hours. So, we headed over to the Fillmore district, in search of live blues or jazz. We ended up in the Boom Boom Room, with Vinyl on the stage. The music was fantastic and a great finish to a great night!
I wish that conference organizers would do more to facilitate this kind of night out, instead of the big noisy parties or awkwardly-forced team building activities. Sometimes, it seems like there's a lot of pressure to "party", but very few opportunities to actually socialize and converse. When there is a relaxed-festive setting, it's a lot easier for conversations to flow and for people to mix.
Since I know a lot of people in the industry, it's way too easy for me to go to a conference and just hang out with my buddies. Which is pretty much what I did at this conference. As much as I love hanging out with my buddies, meeting new people and exploring new ideas is what a great conference is all about.
It's obviously a difficult feat to accomplish, and if I knew how to organize the perfect conference I'd be making a fortune doing just that.
Monday, August 25, 2008
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2 comments:
I couldn't agree more, Kristin. Maybe I'm just getting old, but the stupid parties with the loud music are useless to me. I can listen to loud music anywhere. I'd rather hang out and talk to people I only get to see a few times a year.
That last night was also my favorite, even though I was the first one to take off to catch my flight.
I think this is why they have those "6-degree" type kiosk apps at MAX ...
Flash professionals travel in known herds, just like every other social animal.
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