I was out of the office for most of the week last week, back up in Traverse City, Michigan for an annual conference that I attend every year. This year was the 60th anniversary of the event and I have been attending for close to twenty years now. Although the venue has changed, it's interesting how familiar the drive is and how comfortable the atmosphere is as soon as you step into the building.
The conference has been at the end of October for as long as I can remember. Working in a school district, the beginning of the school year is a crazy time. It can be a chore to find time to get away from the busyness and chaos. I think that's part of the reason they have the conference this time of year. I would guess it's probably a lot cheaper for them too since the leaves are mostly off the trees and the skiing season hasn't started yet.
We got into town a little early, so I decided to take @iikrypticsii to one of the local spots that @mrsbozz and I had visited just a week or so before. I drove us over to Rare Bird Brewpub and we grabbed some lunch before heading back to the resort and checking in.
I got the chicken wings which were pretty good, but looking back now, I probably should have just gotten the tacos again. Those were really delicious last time we were there. The wings were good, but not the best I have ever had.
I got a side of fries and decided to upgrade to the gourmet ones. I think they just had pecorino cheese on them. That's what made the gourmet, but they were quite delicious.
My colleague got a burger and he said it was very good. Pair that with a couple of libations and we were off to a good start on this trip.
My view from the hotel this time was much better than last year. I was on the 11th floor and the rain that plagued us last year moved out fairly quickly. It was nice not looking out on a dark and dreary landscape. I think the only thing I would complain about is that my view was of the parking lot to the East, and not of the lake to the West.
I did get a shot as I was waiting for the elevator one day though. The Grand Traverse Resort and Sap is a pretty cool place. I think my biggest issue with it is the fact that is so far away from the downtown area of Traverse City. It's actually out in a smaller town called Acme.
It was definitely a good conference. As I said, I slipped back into conference mode pretty quickly. My shy and nervous side was replaced by a Bozz that had my friends and colleagues laughing and chatting along with me. Besides us having fixed sessions to attend, this conference is also a great time to network with other people in the industry. They go through the same things and they can commiserate with us.
I once heard that if you go to a class or speaker and you get at least three takeaways from it, then it was worth the money. That is definitely the case with this conference. I made some good connections with vendors and I also gained some new resources among my companions. I have a few people now I can call up if I ever run into issues with a specific piece of software or system.
Not wanting to break with tradition, @iikrypticsii and I skipped a couple of the sessions on Saturday and headed North of the resort to just outside a small town called Elk Rapids. I found this cool little hard cider taphouse and decided it might be cool to check out.
I had my companion select a flight of ciders so he could try a variety of them and settle on a few that he liked. I got a single glass of cider since I was drinking and we enjoyed it on the patio of the establishment.
There was also a food truck at the cider place, but we didn't try it out because we knew a decent buffet of food was waiting for us back at the conference. They do a pretty good job of feeding us and the meals are all included in the registration cost.
It was tempting though, because the food truck at the cider place was an Indian food truck and the smells coming from it were pretty amazing. I was very tempted to try out one of their appetizers or at least a little something.
This area of the state is always quite beautiful and I am really glad I got the chance to get away and do some learning and relaxing away from work. Now it's time to get back to it and put all the knowledge and resources I gained last week to the test.
I guess I better stop writing here and get to it!
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