Where was I?
I was in St. Petersburg, a town with tremendous wealth, tremendous poverty, and a lot of (human) snowbirds. It's a very pretty town on a large bay. I stayed in a friendly bed and breakfast in a neighborhood that was constructed in the 1920s, at least according to the stamps in the concrete sidewalks.
What was the conference about?
The conference was related to software tools and techniques I use at work. Some of the leading architects and thinkers in the industry were there and available for chats. The talks centered around how to start using the tools and get the best use out of them.
I learned some helpful tips about using the tools that we have, tips that will help alleviate some of those annoying issues my work team faces, the kind of problems that are "nibbling us to death."
How'd my talk go?
My talk was about how my team at work determined that we needed a piece of software and selected it in eleven weeks. Most people take one to two years to make the selection. I talked about how we formed the team, how we figured out what we needed, and gave some specific examples of documents we produced along the way.
A handful of people who attended the talk were incredibly kind and a few said it was the best talk of the conference. One person said it made the entire conference worthwhile.
I was also pleased with how it went. I was not nearly as nervous this time as I was a few years ago when I made my first conference presentation. I'm still not super relaxed in front of a large audience, though I'm getting better at it. I thought I was clear and that I handled questions well.
So I was happy in the end and I'd do it again.
What else did I do?
St. Petersburg is compact enough that I decided to go car free. I walked for miles. There was a triathlon the second day I was there, and I watched the runners. What an impressive accomplishment for them!
I saw lots of unusual animals, including three dolphins swimming close to a sea wall. The large shore birds -- pelicans, herons, egrets -- were incredibly calm and allowed me to get quite close. There were also many tiny squirrels, not shy either.
I took advantage of the museums and gardens there and went to:
- Sunken Gardens, a botanical garden
- Salvador Dali museum
- the Museum of Fine Arts, which I especially enjoyed
I ate well and had company every night for dinner.
Travel was smooth and uneventful -- the best kind. I even had an empty seat next to me on both airplane flights.
So an exhausting trip, but a very good one. I'm so glad I had the opportunity to go.
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