Sorry I waited all day. Caught up on most of my work (July feature on real-time information, July editorial on automation industry, Webcast with National Instruments and Moxa, podcast recording and editing with Siemens PLM, getting ready for trips) for the week. I’m off to Dallas on Sunday for the Siemens PLM delayed user conference. Should be fun.
The “Unconference” I sort of proposed for the MESA International Conference turned out to be an unqualified success. Attendance at most of the sessions was excellent. The format was to have a general topic, a couple (at least) MESA experts in attendance to set the tone and answer questions, and then a lively discussion over the topic. Everyone I talked to or had comments reported to me was enthusiastic. It’s a great way to do a conference. Now, the formal presentations were good, too. But I noticed too many people sitting back in their chairs and not taking notes in those. We had people sitting up and participating–and I love to see that.
I’ve been to three conferences in May and three in June. Should make me an expert, right? Anyway, the tone of all six was excellent. I’ve seen some really good presentations. Attendance was up at all of them over the previous event. People are upbeat in the hallways. Lots of good conversations and ideas. 2010 is a far cry from 2009. Now, let’s just see it in business and employment numbers.
