Turning The Optimism Up To 11

After last week’s great MWLUG conference (thank you Richard Moy, Lisa Duke & all the sponsors ) I realised how much I miss my community now there are fewer chances to meet in real life. I’m reminded it’s far too easy to think what’s the focus in my little personal bubble matches what everyone else is doing. My friends are not just my friends, they are the people who nudge me off track and kick my brain into thinking about new things it wants to learn and do.

The biggest gathering of all is always January in Orlando and although I had resigned myself earlier this year into saying goodbye for the last time (and literally did that) I realised I’m not ready to walk away whilst there’s still a strong community of people just as vocal and excited by technology (albeit very different technology) as when I first went in 1995. I saw it in Belgium in March, in Norway in May, in Atlanta last week and will see it again in London in a few weeks. So. Orlando.

I have no idea what the conference will be

I have no idea if my friends will be there

I have no idea if I’ll be speaking

But today I booked my flight, put a deposit on accommodation and sent in 4 abstracts which I’m excited about. I briefly went through the panic of “but how do I word this so IBM will pick it” before giving myself a slap to remember it’s not about what I’m meant to talk about, it’s about what I know, want to share and what I think people want to hear.

I may not be on stage - I don’t know if my subjects or even me are what are wanted this year - but I’ll be there, ready to hug my friends, share ideas, talk and laugh. I hope you will be too.

6 thoughts on “Turning The Optimism Up To 11

  1. Nigel Tufnel would be proud, here he explains the importance of turning up to 11.

  2. I don’t know if we will be going, but if we do, I look forward to attending one or more of your sessions! 🙂

    • It was great to see you last week Nicki. I’ve been thinking about our discussion and I have some ideas related to January on that too so hope to see you there 🙂

  3. You are a legend Gab. See you in January 😀

Comments are closed.