Summary of San Jose Trip

Here I am waiting for another flight. This is the first one of two that will take me home tonight. I'm heading out from San Jose to Los Angeles and finally arriving in Chicago. It's actually pretty dead in here, which is disappointing, because when booking this flight I assumed I couldn't find a direct flight because they were all booked. It looks like there are less than twenty people sitting here within the three adjacent gates. The airport is fairly small to begin with, especially in comparison with O'Hare airport.

The trip overall was pretty good. The conference was very informative and I benefited greatly from meeting the various vendors, clients and colleagues during my visits to the exhibition hall. One that the struck me rather odd was how strict the coordinators were in letting people into the vendor exhibition hall. This was the first conference that I've been to where people without a pass were not allowed into the vendor display area. I can understand not letting people into the seminar sessions but no one without a badge was cleared to pass a few feat into the exhibit area. The whole point of that area is for vendors to gain access to potential clients, why would the coordinators be so strict? My badge had fallen by a cyber-cafe area, and when I returned to the area to try and look for it, I was immediately stopped by what seemed like the British guards placed in front of the London castle. I asked the attendant at the registration booth and was concerned when they informed me that they would only print my badge but would lose all vouchers, to lunch, dinner and a directory booklet. Luckily they were open for me to look for the badge, since I had a pretty good idea where it would be. After convincing the national guards (ok I'm exaggerating) to let me in, sure enough I located my badge and vouchers.

I am truly happy I came, I met many nice people and good contacts that I am sure I will cross paths for work. We actually had a bit of fun as well, attending an after dinner party hosted by one of the vendors. The days however were long and tiring. ON my first day I hadn't stepped into my hotel for more than 10 minutes from 8am until 1am. The second day was a little less hectic but still tiring. The sessions were jammed packed with information and networking all day forced you to always have your game face on and be attentive at all times. After several hours I'm sure you can understand that it could be draining.

Today was a bit more relaxed. I only had a few workshops to go to. I had lunch, walked a bit and dialled into a few meetings at work, and now I am here at the airport. I hope I don't get any flight delays. I read the weather report this morning and saw that Chicago expected evening thunderstorms. I do not want to prolong an already long flight plan of six hours.