A Conference Carol

What a month it has been. Filled with the lead up to One's annual conference and then the event itself.

Now that one has some distance between oneself and the happenings of conference it will be safe to report Objectively on the many happenings of the event.

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Our hero's journey began on a sunny... rainy... sunny... windy Melbourne day as he boarded the train that was taking him to the exotic, far off, destination of Jolimont.

It seemed like mere minutes passed and suddenly he found himself checking in to the most haunted of venues, replete with the moaning of the unsettled dead whistling down the corridors (or if Old Mate and Dual Wielder are to be believed it's just the air conditioning).

Expect the twins to cycle round the corner any moment...

Our hero bravely pushed left his safe and secure room to attend the early arrivals get together. This year, as well as the usual early arriving attendees, there was an organised flash mob of the ghosts of past conferences. Among them Vivacious Em, Skeptic L, Comrade Treasurer, and Dubrovnik Hater; all doing their darnedest to resurface events of past conferences that still haunt our hero to this day.

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Day the second began with the proper conference events and that familiar haunting feeling that every conference organiser has that something had been forgotten.
In any case all was well, except for the haunted projector flickering in and out during the first two hours of presentations.

The large morning events led into the smaller afternoon events and soon enough we were gathering for the evening Galah dinner wherein one found oneself at a table with Supervisor Grand Chief K. The horror continued when she left early and the now spare dessert was sent back to the kitchen as "not needed"... NOT NEEDED!!! Despite that horrifically traumatising event the fun level did seem to pick up as the night went on and there was even some dancing amid the conversation. However a chill did descend upon our hero towards the end of the evening as the ghosts of the present conference obviously took possession of both Sis and Old Mate.

The moment the spirits took control...

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The third day began with Sister Serials and LibraryBFF joining Sidekick and our hero for the day.
After a few morning presentations the fun stuff of the AGM began wherein one's back-room dealings once again failed to return our hero to the presidential standing so richly deserved and he had to continue on as Secretary.
To make matters worse there were then afternoon training sessions in which post-lunch learning was expected!
Luckily it was over in the long-blink of an eye and we were all soon traipsing our way to the evening networking event Sis had booked in the back of a wardrobe, down some stairs, in a basement.
I begrudgingly presented the official crown of presidency to Sis only to have it refused and then stolen away by Jeza who seemingly had it glued to his head for the the next several hours.
Conversation and company was good and our hero was surprised to discovered that several of the other IT employed attendees were huge nerds/geeks about various things.
There was also the ghostly glimmer of potential future conference organising volunteers to warm ones spirit as the witching hour approached.
The return trip of the evening was rather less traipsy and more in the realm of stumbly. But it did involve a visit by Dual Wielder, guided accurately by our hero, to the model Fairy Village (also known correctly as the Model Tudor village) and the Fairy Tree before evening retirement was had at a sensible single digit hour.

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Day four began.
Day four provided many more networking opportunities which, luckily for our hero, Sidekick was able to shoulder the load of.
And before you know it the great adventure was over.
Well, except for the part where our hero had to face one last trial: The Trial of the Unwinding Executive.
Once more spirits were summoned and traipsing the breadth (but not the length) of the city was undertook. Creamy fluffy cocktail temptation was faced and defeated by our hero - time and time again. And finally all were safely back to their haunted hotel rooms to head towards a well-earned sleep in before heading homeward in the morning.

The ghosts and spirits of conference where to linger with our hero and his faithful companions for days, nay the week, to come - for such a manifestation is not so easy to shake without a second weekend of sleep-ins...
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Four XMASes and A Picnic

The week just past has been a whirlwind of celebration from which one has barely survived.


It kicked off with the annual user group XMAS lunch which is always interrupted by the meeting that "has" to occur beforehand.
Lunch and meeting were ably supplied by Jeza, Nicks Fan and Vivacious Em.
Although one was amused that one's two-glasses-of-red-deep attendance at the post lunch executive meeting was met with surprise by President S, given one's reputation for professionalism in any state. Luckily Sis attended in a state of solidarity with my choices.
However one may have to give some credence to kharmic debt as said executive meeting consumed the remainder of the afternoon.


XMAS the second was a lunchtime celebration of our Strategy Teams achievements for the year. Whilst Sonja Roster Queen ably led appropriate celebrations the Strategic absence of Mr Prada and Fee-Fi-Fo-Fum were noted for their permanent records.


With a days rest one was ready to tackle XMAS the third - Library XMAS!!
It was wonderfully organised by Sonja Roster Queen and Fee-Fi-Fo-Fum in just the style one approves - laden with food and drink.
Much conversation was had including a sizable investment in time debating the finer points of Star Wars canon with Nemesis and Psycho Chicken, who I'm sure have both now corrected their obstreperous views.


On a smaller scale, XMAS the fourth was the raising of the XMAS tree at home with Hulk taking command. The placement of the first present beneath the tree was nigh immediately followed by pleading to open it and see why it felt the way it did. Having secured an earnest promise that this would be the only early opened present I deigned to allow the opening. Suffice to say one was not pleased with the post opening: Is that all! Do you have another one?


Which brings us to the Picnic. The annual-ish picnic organised by Spare Legion, this time at the delightfully Pound Bend. Also in attendance were Badger, Hector the Nazi, and Legion3.

All in all a busy time which is why one is looking forward to a Sunday involving only shopping and visiting Freeloading Mum for her annual birthday computer support session.
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A Conference of Nigh Disasters

So One spent most of last week toiling away at conference in Brisbane - a conference plagued by nigh disasters!


As one of the the organisers of said conference the first nigh disaster occurred when the venue went silent on the communication front for a while. It turned out they had been sold but the new owners had sensibly decided to honour all their bookings so disaster was averted.

The next nigh disaster was when the conference bag printer decided to leave the printing until the day before the conference. Luckily Old Mate was able to go there in person and impress upon them the urgency, so disaster was averted.

Another nigh disaster loomed for the plane flight northwards when One learned that President S, Sis, and Oneself would be seated in the same row. Luckily Sis had planned carefully and President S was seated as a barrier between the pair of us, so disaster was averted.

There was also a nigh disaster when very few of the attendees inferred the Hawaiian theme for the "Libraryland cocktails" event -  "cocktails", by the pool. What is there that is not clear in that invite?!?
In any case one can always depend on Vivacious Em to get the memo and attend in appropriate attire. Several others clothed themselves correctly as well, so disaster was averted.

With One not emceeing this year there was a chance for a nigh disaster but President S stepped up to the duties and so disaster was averted.

A most heinous nigh disaster was presented to us as the venue decided that savoury low sugar "treats" were in order for the morning and afternoon teas in order to facilitate increased concentration in the afternoons. Thankfully there were some chocolate balls for the final morning tea and so disaster was averted.

As the moment for the walk to the conference dinner venue approached so did a most violent electrical rain storm. Nigh disaster was averted by the hiring of maxi cabs to ferry attendees to the Gourmet venue. It was also averted when the storm decided to peter out five minutes before the first cabs arrived, sigh.

Nigh disaster also loomed when, as one was arranging LibraryBFF's birthday bubbles at the farewell drinks bar, LibraryBFF herself appeared beside me seeking her next drink. Surprisingly she was just happy to have said next drink, and was not concerned about lost surprise, and so disaster was averted.

One is hoping that next year's Sydney conference is not so nigh disaster prone.
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