Trade Show Day 1: Not Too Bad
Phoenix/Vegas Trip log #5
In my hotel room - Tue, 3 Oct 2023. 8pm
I'm wrapping up Day 1 of a trade show in Las Vegas. It hasn't been too bad. ...Yes, part of that is the early timestamp you'll notice in the header above. I was back in my room, shoes and jacket off, door shut for the night, before 8pm. Surviving trade shows in Las Vegas requires pacing oneself carefully... unless one is still in one's 20s or early 30s. My early 30s are old enough to vote, so yeah, I'm pacing myself on these trips.
A few goods and bads from across the day:
- This morning my work setup in my room was pretty bad. I was working from an ironing board! After an hour I decided that was bullshit and was unsustainable for 3 more days so I called down to request a room change.
- I went down to the booth early. It was good that I went to help out before the opening at 10:30 even though my shift didn't start until 1:30 because the booth was in bad shape at the start. Our event coordinator was nowhere to be found. I initially had uncharitable thoughts about her diligence as she offended me with some ridiculous demands and a dismissive attitude when she started months ago... but it turned out she wasn't slacking, she was chasing down some boxes that hadn't been delivered properly. Meanwhile I helped open and sort the boxes that had been delivered. Then when she returned to the booth and had to work on some other stuff I set up the computer and worked with the A/V techs to fix the large display. No one else who was scheduled to start at 10:30 was stepping up to take responsibility. 🙄
- I came back up to my room for a short rest after lunch; sitting down for 30 minutes was good. It rejuvenated me to work the afternoon shift.
- Similarly, coming back up to my room for an hour between the afternoon and evening shifts was a good rest. A few of my colleagues went to the bar to have it up for an hour. Starting at 4:30. Ugh. 😣
- I knocked back a few cocktails at the evening reception... which may be good or bad. I'll know in the morning. I'm leaning (hoping) toward good as I carefully didn't drink so much that I'd have trouble sleeping or feel ill overnight.
BTW, along the lines of "I'm getting to old for this shit", I observed that most people staff booths at the trade show are younger than me. Except at the IBM booth across from us. There almost everyone is 50+. 😂
In my hotel room - Tue, 3 Oct 2023. 8pm
I'm wrapping up Day 1 of a trade show in Las Vegas. It hasn't been too bad. ...Yes, part of that is the early timestamp you'll notice in the header above. I was back in my room, shoes and jacket off, door shut for the night, before 8pm. Surviving trade shows in Las Vegas requires pacing oneself carefully... unless one is still in one's 20s or early 30s. My early 30s are old enough to vote, so yeah, I'm pacing myself on these trips.
A few goods and bads from across the day:
- This morning my work setup in my room was pretty bad. I was working from an ironing board! After an hour I decided that was bullshit and was unsustainable for 3 more days so I called down to request a room change.
- I went down to the booth early. It was good that I went to help out before the opening at 10:30 even though my shift didn't start until 1:30 because the booth was in bad shape at the start. Our event coordinator was nowhere to be found. I initially had uncharitable thoughts about her diligence as she offended me with some ridiculous demands and a dismissive attitude when she started months ago... but it turned out she wasn't slacking, she was chasing down some boxes that hadn't been delivered properly. Meanwhile I helped open and sort the boxes that had been delivered. Then when she returned to the booth and had to work on some other stuff I set up the computer and worked with the A/V techs to fix the large display. No one else who was scheduled to start at 10:30 was stepping up to take responsibility. 🙄
- I came back up to my room for a short rest after lunch; sitting down for 30 minutes was good. It rejuvenated me to work the afternoon shift.
- Similarly, coming back up to my room for an hour between the afternoon and evening shifts was a good rest. A few of my colleagues went to the bar to have it up for an hour. Starting at 4:30. Ugh. 😣
- I knocked back a few cocktails at the evening reception... which may be good or bad. I'll know in the morning. I'm leaning (hoping) toward good as I carefully didn't drink so much that I'd have trouble sleeping or feel ill overnight.
BTW, along the lines of "I'm getting to old for this shit", I observed that most people staff booths at the trade show are younger than me. Except at the IBM booth across from us. There almost everyone is 50+. 😂