Gnomedex Trip Day 4

Saturday started at 6am again. I had been told by the bellman at the hotel that another cruise ship was due in at about that time. I woke up and went to the window to see the ship coming in. I took some pictures of it pulling into port, and saw something in the water off to the right. Keep in mind this was only maybe 100 yards from my hotel window. I focused to get a better look, and nearly feel OUT of the window at what I saw. It was a whale… a real, live whale. I started snapping pictures, but my camera is slow as hell, and I didn’t get very good ones. I never knew that the whales came up into the Bay like that. Every local I talked to assured me that they do indeed come up that close at times, following Salmon. How amazing was that?! Never in my lifetime will something like that happen again.

After watching for awhile to see if there were any more, I was running late and had to shower fast. I picked up Dave at the ferry, and headed to the conference center. After guzzling some caffeine, slamming down a couple of hard boiled eggs, and getting “mic’d” for the day… it was time to rock and roll. Sarah Lacy was one of the morning speakers. I was able to spend time talking with her one-on-one quite a lot prior to this. She’s a great person, and such a sweetheart. She went out on a limb, and changed the format of her presentation at the eleventh hour. Her speech caused a lot of people’s tempers to flare… but to me, that’s a good thing. It sparked much debate, everyone was listening, and everyone had something to say. The entire audience was not only engaged, but also participating. That’s what it’s all about, and that’s what Sarah was aiming to do.

Lunch was again amazing, and a lot of my time was spent running around doing everything and anything. Over the two conference days, I made a lot of personal contact with all of our amazing Vendors… special shoutout to my buddies at HP. You guys were fantastic!!! Also, of course, I have to mention my friend from Sony… who totally made me nearly cry. Sony gave away eight DVDirect® MC5 Multi-Function DVD Recorders during the conference. I had mentioned to him how much I’ve been wanting to buy one, and he asked me why. I explained that I have a 15 month old granddaughter. My mom lives quite far away, and doesn’t get to see her often. Mom also has dial-up out there in the boonies, so she cannot watch videos we make of baby Jenna. With one of these, I could burn DVDs for her, and send them! So anyway, at the very end of the conference, Ponzi told me she had something for me. It was the last DVD burner!!!! The Sony guy had saved one just for me, and asked Ponzi to tell me thanks for everything I had done. Wow!! How awesome is that?!

I have to also shoutout my buddy Greg Birch at this point, too. Greg is a dentist friend of Chris’, as well as a Techie. He did a giveaway of an expensive Sonicare toothbrush. He had a second one for a giveaway, but changed his mind. I got that second one!! Thanks, Greg. You’re a sweetie, and it was a lot of fun hanging out with you.

My favorite speaker, by far, had to be Scott Maxwell. Hands down, Scott has the coolest job in the World. He sits in his office on Earth, and ‘drives’ the Mars Rover. How fricken awesome would that be?! Not only was his speech great, Scott is a great guy. I was able to sit with him at the speaker dinner on Saturday night, and had some good laughs, and excellent conversation. At the end of Scott’s presentation, he received a HUGE standing ovation… the only speaker to get one in all of Gnomedex history! Now that, is cool.

As I just mentioned, I attended the speaker dinner on Saturday night. That was attended by all the speakers (and some of their spouses), Chris and Ponzi, Joe and Judy Pirillo, Ponzi’s aunt and uncle, myself, Robert and Maryam Scoble, Stuart Maxwell (yes, Scott’s brother) and his wife, and a few other key people. It was relaxed and informal, with all of us circulating and talking with each other. I used the Flip Camcorder to take video reactions from everyone, telling me about their gut reactions and experience with Gnomedex 8. Overwhelmingly, it was very positive. Everyone who has attended previous conferences stated emphatically that this was the best Gnomedex ever.

I may not have been to any of them in the past, but I can definitely say this was probably the best one. The passion, the laughter, and the HEART that was displayed repeatedly during my time there was just… surreal. It was an amazing experience.

Saturday ended all too soon, and then it was over. After the dinner, I headed out to Chris’ house for awhile. I rode with him, and was able to spend a half an hour with just him and I talking. That was great. Ponzi rode out there with Preston and Stephen. We goofed around on the stream in the office for a couple of hours. By that time, I was beyond exhausted. Ponzi had forgotten her purse at the hotel, and had to go back. Keep in mind, that it was well after midnight by then, and I had to be up at 4:30 to head to the airport. I rode back into town with Ponzi, and left the Durango for the guys. (I miss that truck! I NEED one!!) I managed about two hours of sleep, checked out, and flew home.

I’m happy to be home again, yet sad. My trip was indescribable, and one of the most awesome experiences of my life. Thank you to Chris and Ponzi for bringing me out there… and for just everything.

Shoutouts to some of my favorite people, who are now ‘forever friends’: Eric Rice, Drew Olanoff, Maryam Scoble, Liz Strauss, Andru Edwards, Ben Huh, Duncan Riley, Francine Hardaway, Kathy Gill (how awesome was your birthday?!), Mark Bao (you are SUCH an inspiration!!), Mark Davidson, Matt Hartley, the Rosenfelds, Sarah Lacy (and her awesome assistant, Olivia - email me woman!), Shashi Bellamkonda, Stuart Maxwell (no… YOU rock!!), Todd Martini, and probably twenty others I’m forgetting.

YOU guys are what made this an amazing trip for me. I can’t wait to see you all again next year!