Hotel images

So, when I went to TechEd 2005 I stayed at the Renaissance hotel. One of the more expensive places, no doubt. However, I had never gone to teched before, and wasn't sure whether staying in the official MCT hotel would be a strategic necessity or not.

Nonetheless, I decided to play it safe and stay at the renaissance for the conference. I was lucky to get a room for the whole week apparently because it sold out more than a month before the event.

When I got to the airport in orlando, I tried to take the shuttle to the hotel (17$ vs $37 for a taxi). There is apparently a gov't driven monoploy in the transportation of the area. But take it from me, if you can avoid it--- DO NOT take Mears! I repeat-- avoid Mears transportation services. You wait forty minutes in line at their desk, then *another* forty minutes outside in the heat before your crowded shuttle actually shows up. I used the alternative, the only desperate, determined competition to Mears, the Beeline. I waited about twenty minutes (not good, I got there during a shift change) and *less than* two minutes for the shuttle. Seriously, I got my ticket and the shuttle showed up before I really got out of the building. Support those Beeline people, they really are doing a good job.

Oh, btw, it's the d@mn Mears shuttle service that trapped me at the renaissance hotel for an hour while I waited to be taken to the Universal Studios party. The buses started running at 6:45p, but I opted to eat a full dinner before going, so I opted to take a later bus (they were supposed to be running every fifteen minutes until 11pm). By the time I got done (new waiter, backed up kitchen, the usual) it was after 8p. I ended up taking a twenty dollar taxi to get to spend a little over an hour at universal, I got to ride one ride. Then, on the way back, Mears, who had buses for teched hotels organized by "route" number, had one bus number one (my route), and seven route elevens, four sevens, etc.,. Basically, just as there had been no buses to pick me up to take me to universal, there were actually none assigned to get any of us home. Thus, the people who were going to my hotel (and those nearby) stood outside in the parking lot for an hour, while all the other people got to go home. Finally, Richard Civil went and spoke to a couple of the eleven buses, and commandeered them for our sake, getting two busloads of people home. Hooray Richard.

Anyway, back to the hotel. Wow, whatta big place. Huge atrium style hotel. Like most atriums, there were two elevators, and inevitably my room was as far from the elevators as it possiby could be. Sigh. In the middle right of the lobby, there was a split level bar/lounge with attached waterfall/koi pond,
dead center was a large aviary, containing five birds, two of which were those loud australian birds that screamed only around 2 am,

and right is a nice little cabana, coffee shop. Very nice.


In addition there were two restaurants and store in there. Nifty really, especially at night. I have a bunch of photos. I really couldn't do the koi pond justice, especially at night. It was nice to be sitting on the edge of the pond, listening to the waterfall, and watching the fish. Peaceful.






Overall really nice place. I wish I could've gotten a room on the concierge level, I just didn't get the chance.





Night shots:

photos of TechEd and Universal Studios

So I told you that I would post a bunch of photos of my adventures at TechEd 2005. Mind you, all photos were taken with a cheesy motorola cell phone camera. Quality cannot be expected.

The above photo was taken at universal studios on the night of the attendee party. I got to attend about an hour of that event, but more on that fiasco later. I got to go on the MIB ride (very cool, slightly lame, but worthy as far as realtime video gaming is concerned. I like the interactivity of it, the fact that you got rewarded by hitting "secret" targets or getting a higher score), but forgot to take any photos of it. I also learned to cha cha a little from my wonderful dance instructor, Richard Civil (another photo I forgot to take). I then had to walk the half mile back to the buses to go to my hotel (the second part of the evening's fiascoes), so I took photos on the way. I am actually impressed on how they came out.

Walking back-- crowds, lights, florida in June, Universal, universal studio store




Also, on the hot, crowded walk back through universal studios I came across the standard universal icon, the globe with the word "univeral" circling. I couldn't believe the number of people just standing there around the base of that thing. Idly, confused and wandering like a cloud of landbound gnats. I did, somehow manage to get some decent images of the icon, despite the lighting, crowding and unnecessary smoke effects.



At this same event I became embroiled in a camera battle. While taking a picture of the movie marquee, I ended up catching the attention of some guys with a camcorder, then someone else with a digital camera. Mind you, I show up as my evil twin, mildly deformed and photo-impaired girl, on film, so I completely not happy when they just would not leave me alone. Imagine, if you will, it is about 11pm on the fifth day of little or no sleep, sweaty, dirty, exhausted. Beer in my hand, melting in the humidity, and these guys literally chase me around. I finally turned my little phone camera on them and refused to speak when they tried to "interview" me. I can only hope that they will edit me out as soon as they get home. Here is an idea of what was going on, the person I "shot" with my phone is actually to the left of the guy with the camcorder, but you can still see the shoulder and hand of that evildoer. Damn camcorder man.


Next entry, images from the renaissance....

Duh, Just realized I can add photos to a blogentry...

Wooo. So, I was given to believe that, in order to have pics in my posts, I would have to use Hello or Flickr. I have been reluctant to create yet another account somewhere and install yet another third party app of dubious provenance in order to have pictures here.

But no, there's an upload pics button right on the frickin' toolbar of the createpost window. So expect some pictures of TechEd, the renaissance hotel, and other random stuff....

Post TechEd Stress Disorder

So I have been back from TechEd 2005 for a couple of weeks now and seem to be suffering from Post TechEd Stress Disorder. This disorder is identified as the ennui and loss that one feels after the excitement and activity abruptly ends at the end of a particularly funfilled conference. Especially when a large amount of money was spent to accomplish nothing more than a good time.

You would think it was no big deal, a relaxing vacation in Orlando, surrounded by friends, things to do, people to see....

But no. For some reason, it has taken me weeks to really get back into the swing of things here. I've travelled extensively before. Training for several weeks at a time, spending four days a week on the road, I've even been to other conferences. Never have I had such a hard time getting it together.

Why?

I have no idea really. Maybe because I didn't expect to have so much fun? Maybe because for months, even years really, I have built up expectations of how it would go, what I would do, what would come of it, that when I got home I expected something to change. Something. Anything.

And yet, silence. Yeah, I've gotten to know people (in person as it were) that I only knew from the newsboards. Yeah, I now recognize the punchlines of several inside jokes. But otherwise, no additional leads, no useful contacts.

The point is, I had hoped for something I hadn't even put a name to. In the past, each conference I went to, each event I paid for, has turned into a job or opportunity. Then, this year, I busted my butt for several months to carry a track at a conference. Finally reaching the pinnacle of success, able to check another thing off my dream to do list, I was a presenter at a technical conference. Heck, not just a presenter, I carried a track.

You would think someone might be impressed by that. That the attendees might give me a callback, seeing as they seemed so goshdarned impressed. But nuthin. They were not obligated and too much of the event (other than my part) was in shambles. When they got home, the overall affect of the conference left too much of a bad taste to allow me to be remembered fondly enough to trust with their business. Note: All conferences are not created equal. Be careful which you associate with, as they can actually hurt your rep, rather than help it.

Then, TechEd came. I was already down from the waste of time and effort that the previous conference netted me, so I wasn't too surprised when nothing really came of TechEd either.

You see, the TechEd conference is about the networking for the long game. Not for immediate gratification. Unfortunately, a person could starve to death waiting for the long game to finish, for the prizes to be presented.

So here I sit. Having come home to the silence and inactivity I left. A vacuum of ennui, entropy, and boredom. It has taken me weeks to get used to the idle, silent hours after only a week of activity and excitement. I obviously was not cut out for silence.

So then, somehow I must figure out how to bring on the funk, bring on the noise. Not easy I know, but otherwise I will just sink into this housewife life of emptiness and disappear.