ASAE and the Center 2006: What I liked best and least about this year’s conference
Best:
-$10 parking at the convention center. You can’t beat that in Boston!
-The entertainment in the lobby on Monday morning (click here for the YouTube video shot by the BostonBlog bloggers).
-The beach balls on the connector that runs from one side of the expo hall to the other. I had more fun kicking those around as I crossed.
-The Internet kiosks! These were fantastic—thanks to the sponsors who made that little perk possible. Note to self and the nice person who sent me a warning: Don’t forget to log out of any programs you log into on a public machine. Oops.
-All the conversational areas that were scattered around. It felt very homey and comfortable to have all those networking spots. I especially appreciated all the bottled water that was provided, too.
-The exhibit hall, which was filled with some very cool booths and lots of shiny, happy people.
-The giant red carpet outside the front entrance.
-The plethora of rooms set in rounds. Only the largest sessions seemed to be set in theater style.
-The open-space meeting I wrote about earlier.
-Jim Collins!
-The shuttle drivers, who were so nice even though they must have been bored out of their brains.
-All the brilliant people I met, and all the faces I was finally able to put to voices I’d known only over the phone.
-The BostonBlog, which kept me in the know about all the things I was missing!
-The board room at the Westin, which is absolutely gorgeous. The food was terrific, too. (We held a roundtable there.)
-ASAE staff, who continually pitched in to do anything that needed doing, including hauling in chairs for a couple of activities that didn’t expect to draw as big a crowd as they did.
Least:
-My aching feet. That is one huge convention center to navigate. I was jealous every time I saw BCEC staff riding around on those Segways. A related gripe: Where I needed to go next always seemed to be at the farthest point from where I was previously.
-While I didn’t experience it, I hear that there was no meet and greet at the airport, and finding transportation into town was none too smooth. Likewise, the traffic due to tunnel closures and the general high-tourist season in town made getting around by car or bus a long and winding road.
-My laptop. OK, this really had nothing to do with the meeting, but I was so peeved when the stupid thing wouldn’t boot up and was a useless doorstop all weekend.
What’s on your best/worst list?
Related Topics: Industry association news
