Collin vs. RSA
From all accounts, this year's Rhetoric Society of America conference was quite good. Alas. I was not.
First, a stunning blow was dealt to my internal sense of geography, as I learned, quite the hard way, that Memphis was a good deal further away from Syracuse than I had thought. How could I tell, you ask? Every time I mentioned having driven: "You drove?!?!" Yes, yes I did.
And as a result, I spent the first half of the conference on the road, arriving not until Saturday night. And for various reasons, I had not prepared my presentation. So, that night, and much of the next day, I ended up writing my talk. I went to a single session on Saturday morning, and spent most of Sunday writing. I did finish in time to be able to go out Sunday night. Sunday night turned into Monday morning, and didn't "end" until roughly 3:30.
Did I mention that my talk was scheduled for 8:00 am Monday morning? Oh yes.
I should also mention that I wasn't in the conference hotel, having made my reservation too late. I got up at 6 am Monday morning, and hoofed it to my hotel, showered, caffeinated, etc., and managed to wobble my way through a presentation that was assisted greatly by the smart papers that followed it.
I had a nice time, but the long drive, the dislocation, and the lack of responsible preparation on my part all left me feeling like my conference could have been a lot better. Ah well. Nobody's fault but mine.
That is all.
Comments
Not to add insult to injury, or to rub salt in an open wound, or to look a gift horse in the mouth, or anything, but: I guess you didn't quite grow up knowing that Memphis was the biggest city in Mississippi?
Which is a snarky way, I guess, of saying "you drove?!?"
Yikes. That's a rough conference, and beats my RSA nightmare of four years ago hands down. Which is saying something.
Posted by: KF | May 31, 2006 1:53 AM
Here's the worst part: I grew up in a town on the Mississippi, and that fact was a great source of civic pride. One might think that such pride would extend to some basic awareness of the other riverfront cities.
One might think.
Posted by: collin | May 31, 2006 2:48 AM
Well, every conference can't go perfectly. I've seen really famous people have a bad day at a conference or speaking engagement, and that always cheers me up considerably.
Posted by: jo(e) | May 31, 2006 7:42 AM
But, really, folks: as one who had the pleasure of seeing Collin Sunday at 8am, I can attest that he hardly seemed to be having a bad day.
Posted by: Donna | May 31, 2006 4:46 PM
Alas and alack, your presentation was up against Lois's, which I also wanted to see. Why is it that sessions pass by with nothing I *have* to go to, whilst two or three time slots are jampacked with must-sees?
Posted by: susansinclair | June 1, 2006 4:10 PM
I'm sorry I missed you in Memphis. Adam and I checked out early Monday morning (and spent much of Sunday afternoon/evening on Beale St). In any case, hope to run into you next conference 'round.
Posted by: Scot | June 1, 2006 6:51 PM
tsk, tsk. what would our 39th president have to say about this?
Posted by: Amy | June 4, 2006 12:19 PM
You even need to ask? Of course, he'd say, "Yes!"
Posted by: collin | June 5, 2006 5:28 PM