TechLearn...again
Tomorrow I'm off to TechLearn in Orlando. Yes, I'll be taking pictures and blogging.
How long have I been making this annual pilgrimage to the kingdom of the mouse? Too long. If I'm not attentive, I go onto auto-pilot.
Kissimmee, with its sprawl of T-shirt shops, discount outlets, fast food joints, cheap motels, and pancake houses, laying in wait for wary Disneyworld turistas, is the state champion for tackiness, and given that this is Florida, that takes some doing. Not that I'm complaining. Kissimmee gave me my first time at the controls of an airboat, my first ride on a jet-ski, and my first glimpse of an alligator leaping 5' out of the water to snatch a chicken from a clothesline suspended over the water. I've had good $4 meals, 50-cent beers, and stayed in some fellow's condo for a week for free.
Just this evening, I went on the net to score my room for TechLearn, a "suite" with fridge, microwave, free phone calls, and a nearby lake for $23 a night. Outside the "Kingdom," there's still a near depression, and bargains abound.
Here are reports from TechLearns past. I'm about to finish an article for an academic journal -- 9,000 words and not yet finished -- and the annual migration to TechLearn is one of the rhythms of the piece.
- TechLearn '98
This coming week, I'm looking forward to seeing old friends and making new ones. Cathy and Elliott are masters at making people feel comfortable and gregarious.
If you see me at TechLearn, please say hello. I'll be the guy in the zany Hawaiian shirt up near the front. Florida is so unreal for me, an adoptive Californian, that I get these Hunter-Thompsonesque urges to wear funny clothes, drive around in a convertible, and get out of control. I think it's something they put in the water.
And if you're not here, watch this blog for gonzo journalism and highlights.
Last year
Posted by Jay Cross at October 31, 2003 11:52 PM | TrackBack
As much fun as the segway seems, I don't think I'd ever want to be seen in public on one. I'd feel waaaaaay to nerdy.
Posted by: driverdave at November 3, 2003 11:07 AMHeinrich Koenen(who now works for us) turned me on to your BLOG.
You must keep this site as the permanent Techlearn archive. I doubt Advanstar has any interest. I am a 99 thru 2002 alumni who decided to send two employees and sit 2003 out. In fact, according to the brochure, I spoke on Tuesday. I must say with the move to NY, an era has ended. In many respects, Techlearn helped shape my critical thinking about learning. The Centra notebooks from the wheelie bags have become my content repository that I continually access. I pass on the bytes to my training group anytime a framework is needed to help them develop an idea. I now have a second source to jog those thoughts and memories. Thanks for the five years.
Yes true, old as world :)
Posted by: Big Naturals at July 9, 2004 05:17 PM
