Japi's Blog

ASAE Welcome Event - WOW!

I attended the ASAE Conference night-time event today and it was great!  They really went ALL OUT for this extravaganza.  The music was awesome, the food even better and the dancers.... WOW!!! Gorgeous.. no, not THAT kind of dancers.

I walked into the grand ballroom in the West building of McCormick Place.  The music playing was really fun and upbeat - the band members were spread out all over the place and they were on top of tall stage-like structures.  The center structure was the largest and had four bridges where these very pretty ladies were dancing.  It was fun to watch the dancers and listen to the cool music playing.

There was all kinds of food and drinks all over the room.  From beef to shrimp, from fruit to italian sausage.  The variety of food was matched by the variety of exotic drinks. 

The event was well organized, beautfully decorated and presented.  I congratulate everyone who was involved in putting this event together.  GREAT WORK!

Saturday in Chicago... ASAE Conference

My first day in Chicago has been fun... I went to McCormick Place early to register and was AWED by how gigantic this convention center is.  On the ride from my hotel, the taxi driver (in a strong slavic accent) kept asking me which building I wanted to go to... I didn't understand what he meant until we arrived... WOW!  IT'S HUGE (I can hear my 16-year old boy saying "that's what she said"). 

The taxi dropped me off at the main building and since the ASAE National Conference is expected to have about 7,000 attendees, I figured the main building was a safe bet.  But I later found out that this convention center could easily hold over 200,000 attendees.

NOTE for Houstonians reading this: McCormick Place Convention Center has 3 buildings (North, West and South - I imagine they are working on an East building)... and each of those buildings is larger than the George R Brown Convention Center.

I registered and looked at the event schedule.  The next session that pertained to me wasn't until 2:30 PM today - the first-time attendee orientation.  So I went back to the hotel to get my bearings on the surrounding areas. 

This was cool because I found out that 1 block from my hotel, the newest Batman movie (The Dark Knight) is being filmed.  So I walked over with my camera and took a few shots, check out my Flickr photos to see them.

I've organized my schedule for the next few days to optimize the sessions I attend.  Let's hope there's a lot of good information and I make great contacts at this event.