Linchpins Redux

I attended a lecture last night that I discovered via Twitter. Great speaker, and my post about the lecture itself appears here on my company's blog.

The venue changed locations from when I first confirmed my reservation back in January. Then, it was to be in Irvine, not to far from my office. Yesterday in the reminder I received, I noticed the change to Dana Point which is roughly 15 miles South of here. The good news: this gave me the opportunity to stop by my folks, see how they're doing in the fight against their colds, and grab a little dinner with them.

After that, the drive lasted about 10 minutes. Cruising along Crown Valley I spotted the silhouette of a coyote darting across the lanes, somehow managing to keep away from the headlights and the streetlights, disappearing into the brush along the hillside.

The people at the event -- more than 300, I would guess -- all seemed to fit into the corporate shmoozer: men with slicked back hair or mini-faux hawks for the men; women layered with makeup and tightly grasping filled wineglasses; chatter in the air about how he managed to snag that multi-million account or how much money she made from that sale of such and such company. I felt very out of place and spent the 20 minutes after registering on the outer deck, chatting with Caesar and enjoying the croaking of dozens of frogs.

Usually at these types of lectures, I take notes. My pad and pen were at the ready, but once the talk began, I didn't feel note taking would be of any use. And I think I learned and absorbed more because I paid attention to the talk rather than trying to focus on what I could jot down.

I'm not a networker. Once the talk ended, I followed the crowd into the lobby then headed up the stairs to find the elevator to the parking structure. Most people stayed to take pictures, talk shop, nibble at whatever food was offered. I couldn't wait to get on the road and head for home.