More ResNet!

Here I am again, still in Atlanta, still at the ResNet conference, still having a great time. Here are some highlights of the trip so far:

• The opening banquet - This is the reception and dinner Friday night to officially kick off the conference. There were speakers from hosts and from the sponsor of the dinner, Cisco's Clean Access. The sponsor of the dinner happened to be sitting right next to me at the next table and, directly after her speech, the scholarship winners were introduced and it was made very obvious to everyone that I was presenting later in the conference about all the wonderful things we've done with Clean Access' primary competitor, Bradford Campus Manager. I got a small smile from the spokesperson from Cisco. I sheepishly smiled back. I was afraid I was going to get kicked out of the dinner. My boss thought it would be funny while introducing me to the 300+ people in attendance to let them know I'm job hunting for the next year and that they should hire me. Only one job offer so far.


• Our presentation - First thing in the morning, I printed out the slides I made in May to look at them before our 1:30 presentation Saturday afternoon. There were about 40 people in attendance with varying levels of interest and knowledge about Campus Manager. Some didn't even have the system installed, and were trying to find out what cool things they could do with it beyond what Bradford touts. Quite a few seemed very interested in what we had to say and were excited that we brought CDs with all our files we have created to hand out. I didn't get a lot of feedback, but TR said everything he heard back from the listeners was good. I hope so.


• Techie females - At every conference I've been to, mostly consisting of peers, I'd get particularly annoyed with the girls at the conference who would priss and primp and get up exceptionally early so they can have their hair just so for the rest of the day for, in my eyes, no particular reason. One thing I noticed here was that none of the females are like that. All the women are laid back and not stressing over appearance and, in my opinion, very intelligent, confident, and respectable. For the first time, I've not felt out of place in a group of women- I'm surrounded by women who have the same attitude as I do toward fashion and looks, on one hand, and technology on the other. It has been fun talking to them-- mainly because they are so easy to talk to, with similar interests and communication styles and spheres of knowledge. I can talk to another female without 'dumbing down' the technology I'm discussing. And nothing they say is over my head. I love it. The guys are great too, I suppose.


• People from the coasts - Although I know there must be people here from the South and Midwest, I have consistently been talking primarily to people from one of the coasts- mainly New York or California. Oh, and it's a bit intimidating (but kind of cool) to have people who work at Stanford and Yale walk up to me and shake my hand and know my name. Kinda weird.


• Family & friends - Very happily, my visit to Atlanta has been more then just the conference. While I was somewhat disappointed I missed out on the big event in Atlanta for the weekend (note the SARCASM), I got to have dinner last night & lunch today with my aunt & uncle in Lilburn, and Ashley came and had coffee with me last night as well. I was up WAY too late after that coffee :) I was so delighted to spend time with friends & family I hadn't seen in a while, so it was very worth it. I had forgotten how much I love Atlanta.


• The rest of the conference - The symposium concludes late tomorrow with a couple more sessions, a vendor fair, t-shirt exchange, and closing banquet. It has been a good trip. I'm glad I'm here. The presentations I've listened to have fascinated me (I may save them for later blogs) Things have been good. I've decided I enjoy IT more than software development. I return to software development, however, on Wednesday.

Josh's home, now I'm gone

Sorry about not posting for a while. I've been a bit distracted by a certain gentleman returning from a long trip. I'm had a wonderful week-and-a-half catching up with him. It's been great. The graduation party was great too- I love Matt's dairy farm, its so quiet and beautiful up there. I enoyed visiting again.

As for right now, I am neither on the dairy farm nor with Josh. I am in Atlanta, in a dorm room at Georgia Tech, getting ready to head for breakfast. I'm at the ResNet Symposium, a conference of 300 technology people from colleges who are in charge of the residential networks at their respective schools. I'm here because A) I'm giving a presentation about Bradford Campus Manager and how Taylor has used it and B) I was selected to receive the Senti-Merriman Scholarship to be here. People are making a big deal about both of them. I don't like being made a big deal of.
When we got hee, we got a bag full of goodies which was fun to sort through- a glass and a candy jar and a laptop bag and a couple notepads and a retractable network cable and a pen. Lots of nifty stuff. Oh, and Bradford sent a mug and polo shirt for the Taylor staff beforehand. Yay for toys.
The plans today are "pre-conference tutorials"-- workshops before everyone gets here. There's an opening banquet tonight where I might be introduced to everyone.

OK, off to breakfast!

T minus one

Today marks...
- T minus one day till I'm in Michigan for Matt's graduation party

- T minus one week till June 10, when Josh gets back from his month-long trip

- T minus one year till June 3rd, 2006, when I will be Mrs Joanna Brooke B. and, as of this moment, on my way to my honeymoon with my husband

Lots of exciting things, just one away... and it feels like they are not soon enough.

The week went quickly. The job is starting relatively well. I can't say much more because Panera, my source of internet, is closing in T minus one minute.