Thursday, November 5, 2009

I have never been on a plane that’s this empty in my life

Just like the title says, I am on the last leg of my trip back home to Philly. I am on a wide body jet and the damn thing is empty. I am in a three person row and I have the whole thing to myself. Nice leather seats. This is shocking, considering that I almost didnt get a seat.

IMG_0019 Admiral Jackass at 30k over the US

My trip is over. Another EEI has come to end. This particular show is unlike any other trade show I have every attended. The crew that comes to the show (and its the same crew at every show) is nuts. Usually we have the conference at a really nice city that always tends to be a party city – the last two shows were in Vegas and New Orleans. The next two are in Boston (on St. Patty’s day no less!) and back to Vegas. This show very low key in comparison. The hotel that we stayed in was very, very nice but there was nothing around it. zilch. We were relegated to the hotel bar, which closed at 12:00 every night. The show attendees were not happy at all, and I imagine that the folks who organize this had the best intentions when picking this particular venue, but they should know better. This group is a not the type who eat dinner, maybe have a drink, and then hit the sack for the evening. Quite the contrary – these people are absolute lunatics. I think I might have told some stories from the Vegas trip many blogs ago. I’ll give you an example from this show, to put things in context.

So, on the last night of the conference, there are many dinners happening between customers and vendors, etc. But when its all said and done, everyone retires to an establishment for some after-dinner beverages. And it amazes me how things travel through this crowd throughout the day. So, last night, after I got home from dinner with my co-workers and a customer with whom we had the pleasure of dining with, I retired to the hotel bar, which was packed with show attendees. The hotel kicked out at 12:30 am, and I decided to pack it in. No sooner then I get to my room, I get a call from my boss with the word that some folks are heading to the pool with a couple of cases of beer. Dont ask me where the beer is – this group is very resourceful. Never one to miss a party, I thre on my bathing suit and headed over to the pool, where I find about 20 other people kicking back beers. There was a even a guy with a laptop and speakers playing some tunes. Only at EEI. I wound up hanging out until 2:30 or so after having a couple of beers and taking a dip in the pool. We were making a fair amount of racket, but we werent that close to any of the guest rooms, so I guess the hotel staff figured its better to have us out by the pool, then inside the hotel bar. Placate us, because you’re not going to beat us, there’s too many of us. We’re like the Borg.

That’s what happens at this show. There’s a gang of criminals that are always out partying. It’s amazing.

Tomorrow, its back to the office, and I have a boat load of work to do. I just hope that I can get back into a normal routine now that the bulk of my traveling is done – I have one small trip planned in Chicago in December, but I think that’s it until the Spring.

No comments:

Post a Comment