Musings on Conferences and Traveling

This week, you might have noticed the lack of posts. I have been at a conference since last Monday (and traveling a little on the side), which—alas—leads to a lack of material regarding Birmingham, specifically. However, if you do not travel frequently or go to work related conferences, here are a few things I learned along the way:

1) Take a bus tour, especially if you don’t have a lot of time in a mid-sized city. You can get everything out of the way in 90 minutes. It’s fantastic, and the $20 is definitely worth the attention I was able to give my work later on.

2) Don’t be that guy (or girl). Show some respect to your speakers, even if you don’t agree with them.

3) Make friends. Cities are particularly less intimidating when you have someone to disperse that anxiety with. That doesn’t mean getting trashed at every opportunity (side note: I actually heard of a company—in Birmingham, nonetheless—that sent their employees to training in order to see who would party too much. Those employees were promptly fired. The lesson? Watch the booze, kids).

4) Bring one suit—mix and match. You will need that luggage space for the 8,000 pieces of literature your boss wants you to bring back. Also—bring a pair of jeans. And a scarf. You will find somewhere to wear them both.

5) Take lots of notes.

6) You have to be at the airport one hour before your flight. Delta will not let you on a flight without your checked luggage on board, and the Philadelphia Airport is not a comfy place to campout.

7) Make sure you bring a comfortable pair of shoes. Just because your flats are 'broken in' in Birmingham does not mean they are comfortable in New York. FYI.