98 replies to this topic

[deborah2002]

Karon, between Kathryn (kskatz) and myself, poor Bill didn't get a word in edgewise. He sat w/us up front at the seminar and she and I just rambled on and on and on.....you could SEE his eyes glaze over. He's a darn good sport.
It was really great meeting the forum members. I didn't speak to a whole bunch of folks (I'm kinda shy at times--I'm a better "poster" than speaker).

One guy was listening to another gentleman and myself talk (didn't get his name)and when he heard the word "forum" he looked at both of us and said "oh, you're one of THOSE". I'm not sure what that was supposed to mean. Maybe he thinks Jill is running some kind of dating service or something. Hmmmm.......

Anyway, the seminar was really terrific (BTW, Scottie, I thought the "GoogleButt" comment was hilarious!). All of the segments were very well done and I wouldn't change a thing. The time and money were both well spent. Thanks to you all!

deb

[Scottie]

O M G, Deborah!

I totally forgot THAT little slipup. Googlebot... googlebutt... if I hadn't started laughing no one would have noticed. LUCKY FOR ME the entire day was taped and will be available soon on CD. :stunned: Um, Jill, they are going to do some editing on that thing, aren't they?

We looked for you at the Blue Martini, Deborah! You should have come. Sorry we didn't get a chance to chat more- you should have hung around for dinner!

Whew... still reeling from the Googlebutt comment... I had totally forgotten that and I don't believe any of my partners-in-crime were in the room at the time; they didn't tease me later.

OK- It's not art, but the pictures I took are available at http://www.highrankings.com/tampa/

Jill- if Lee wants to e-mail me hers, I'll add them.

[deborah2002]

Scottie, I wanted to go to the Blue Martini, but the traffic on Spruce was sooooo bad it woulda taken me 2 hours just to get there (my BF and I went to Outback for dinner a few blocks away).

The entire 48 hours was so bizarre. It took over 2 hours to drive from Orlando because of the traffic. I had made hotel reservations close by, about 2 miles. Man, what a difference 2 miles makes. I was surrounded by strip clubs (although, to give credit, apparently one of them was voted "best in 2003" according to the marquee).

I have come to the conclusion that I am really BAD at starting conversations. When Chris asked me in the conference room over coffee where I was from, the best I could seem to get out was "uh, uh, Orlando?". Geez. So much for wit.

I'm hoping to get to NYC for the SES conference in March. Maybe by then I will have polished my coversational skills to the point where I can say "Hi" without stuttering.


deb

[copywriter]

Deb... I don't think any of us is the Queen of Opening Lines We should all take a class on starting a conversation!

Why is it that every picture taken of me is with my mouth open? Never mind... don't answer that! Most of the time it was because I was about to CRY I was laughing so hard. You guys didn't know I sang, did you? And that I was providing entertainment during lunch???

And yes, Scottie... Lee and I were present for your Googlebutt comment. However, we'd abused you so much that we decided to let that one go. (Either that or we just forgot.)

Chris and her dang experiment! She decided that she wanted to get her mood ring (don't ask!) to change colors more than it had been. So first she drops it into her water glass. No change. Then she gets a little more creative and holds it over the candle on our table. OK, until she accidentally drops it INTO the fire!

Then there was an incident with butter and with wine....... am I leaving anything out, gals? I'm not sure if the silly thing ever did change colors.

What a trip!

[Jill]

That pretty much sums it up, Karon!

Makes me smile just thinking of it all again. My favorite pic Scottie put up is Chris cooking her ring!

Jill

[leftbrain]

I was just sitting here WAITING for Bill to come online and read that.  Truth be told, Leftbrain's a great guy.  Poor fellow couldn't get a word in edgewise at dinner with me and Scottie rambling on and on.  However, he was very gracious and just let us make fools of ourselves without a word. 

OK, now that I've gotten a good night's sleep, I can hang around the forum long enough to defend my good name. Thanks for the good words Karon, and yes, I believe a did get a few words in during the conversation.

You and Scottie didn't make fools of yourselves by any means; I had a very pleasant time. After reading some of last night's posts, though, I figure you two must have been on your best behavior for dinner.

As for Scottie oversleeping, it was probably the aftereffect of all that cheesecake.

Anyway, I had a great time. I'm off now to check out Scottie's pictures.

Bill

[copywriter]

True... cheesecake can be very satisfying. So much so that I snuck out of my room and up to CKs restaurant to get a slice for myself later that night White chocolate raspberry!

[Jill]

You did? Too funny. You guys surprise me more and more every day!

[smc_online]

Hi!

I'm just stopping by to say a big to Jill, Scottie, Karon, Chris and Lee for putting together a very informative seminar. Our time was well spent and I enjoyed meeting you all.

Deborah and Bill, I'm sorry I missed you (and anyone else from the forum)! I felt awkward walking up to people just to ask "hey, are you a forum member?" I guess your not the only one that is shy. Hopefully next time we'll be more bold!

PS - Lee, I really appreciate your hospitality. Your extra care was very evident! :thumbsup:

[copywriter]

Yeah... Scottie took a piece to go and - when I got back to my room - all I could think about was Scottie's cheesecake. Rather than be a bum and go knocking on her door, I decided to get my own

We all enjoyed meeting everyone, too. Next time we'll all have to remember that none of us is a "small talk expert" and just get over it and approach each other anyway

[Jill]

LOL...I love that. I can just picture you in your room thinking about Scottie's cheesecake. I'm sure she woulda shared!

[copywriter]

She said she would've (I told her about my "outing" to the restaurant), but how low would that have been for me to show up at her door begging for scraps?

Room service had cheesecake, but it was plain with strawberry sauce. (Plus I would have had to tip the guy!) And the restaurant upstairs (CKs) had white chocolate raspberry... yummmmmmm! So, what the heck... I just threw my little sneakers on and pop on up there

It was weird though. When I got back to my room and open my little treat, it looked like a pink snowball! It was round. I've never had round cheesecake before. They'd formed the cheesecake into a ball and set it on top of a shortcake cookie. It was VERY good, but looked a little odd. None the less, I cleaned my plate

[Jill]

Scottie probably had already scarfed hers all up by that time anyway!

We are a total bunch of cheesecake freaks, I tell ya!

[copywriter]

No doubt! (On the scarfing and the freaks.)

I still laugh when I think back to Atlanta and the 42 different slices of cheesecake we all ordered for dessert so we could try each one. (OK, maybe 42 is a slight exaggeration. I think it was more like 38.)

[leftbrain]

All this talk of cheesecake is killing me, just killing me. It was bad enough having to resist all those doughnuts calling my name from the Krispy Kreme shop in the terminal every time I passed by. :doh:

Mayra (and anyone else I missed the privilege of meeting), I hope to do better next time. Although I'm normally very outgoing (yeah, right - just ask Deborah), it is hard to just walk up to someone you've never seen before and start a conversation. Maybe a solution would be to add the attendee's forum name and avatar to the name badge. That should help break the ice.