Fame! (sans Leg Warmers & Headband)

I made it in to California on time yesterday and immediately started running into people in the hotel. It was funny that with the blonde hair and glasses some people took a minute to recognize me. Makes me think that Superman's Clark Kent disguise may have been plausible after all. Soon after, I went to lunch with Darin from Winnipeg. He's the one that lives next to my parents and set me up on the blind date with Kevin.

There were 2 good parties last night. My boss had a drinking party for bloggers in the lobby bar, then the head of the company had a party for staff and the Board of Directors in his hotel suite. I kept the partying in check but still didn't make the 6:00 am group run the next morning. I decided 3 hours of sleep would be more beneficial to my health seeing, as I had stayed up a full 24 hours.

I've been meeting so many new people and seeing a lot of people that I only run into once or twice a year, so I'm already starting to lose my voice. Figures - I just bragged last weekend that I haven't had laryngitis for 5 years. That'll learn me.

The biggest event for me today was the awards ceremony. My boss asked if I wanted to co-present and I said no, but that I wanted to be in all the pictures. He doesn't like getting his picture taken, so it worked out well. There were probably some people who didn't know who the heck I was, but who cares, I posed in all the trophy shots any way. I'll be famous on flickr! High aspiration, I know. I did force my way into 12% of the photos from Monday. Here I am with Doug, the conference's program chair. Note the "Trouble Maker" ribbon on the bottom of my name tag. (Staff got to choose their own titles.)

The day ended with a reception out by the pool. It was a bit chilly, but since most of you reading are in Winnipeg and Ottawa I'll keep my mouth shut about the cool California temperatures or risk a beating when I get back.