Ingesting & Digesting NECC 09 Part 1

Yes, I'm fully aware that it's been close to two weeks since NECC 09. But look (re-read if you must) my post title -- it includes the word 'digesting'; that and the fact that the blogosphere has been inundated with post-NECC09 posts I figured I would wait until the 'feeding frenzy' had passed.

Let us begin our 'culinary journey' through NECC 09:

Appetizer:
Since NECC 09 was held in Washington, DC I had three options of transportation (selections from the menu if you will), by plane, by car, by train. Plane was quickly ruled out as the time spent traveling to and from and waiting around airports seemed like time that could be better spent elsewhere. Driving quickly followed flying as I found the $30/day parking better spent elsewhere (like, let's say, shoes! LOL). Which left me with taking a train. Growing up in Europe this was my favorite means of transportation so I was looking forward to it. I have to say, I was not disappointed. With the $$$ I saved on parking, I upgraded my tickets to Business Class (larger seats, they reclined, but most importantly -- power outlets!).

Intermezzo:
I choose from the Twitter selection for this course. My sampling of the Twitter Intermezzo has no rhyme nor reason nor order, I simply am sharing those nibblings that stood out.
It began with @fsinfo - we had an enjoyable couple of hours on Sunday morning to leisurely stroll through most of the Mall and the front of the White House. I'm so glad we took the time to do this since once NECC (the Main Course) began we could barely get up from the table!

Well....if truth be told, it actually began on Friday. Arriving at Union Station, I get a map from the Information Booth (lovely people there by the way) and see that the hotel is only 5 blocks away. Piece of cake, especially since at the time I only had a rolling carry-on with me. Well, two blocks later, teetering on high heels (WHAT was I thinking?) I'm cursing the creator of the map and wondering where the heck the map key/legend was so I could see for myself that 1 block = 10 hot, humid, sweaty minutes! I arrive (drenched) at the hotel, check in and check my tweets. Look at that! I've got a Tweet from @lthumann she's asking me if I was wearing blue jeans and a green top (I was). Seems she passed me in her AIR CONDITIONED cab! Now don't ya think she could have slowed down????? LOL

But my troubles were soon forgotten as I hooked up with @clarelane and ended up having drinks at an outdoor terrace in Chinatown.

At some point I met up with @lizaSt and her husband which was wonderful since I had last seen them when they were kind enough to take me out to dinner at NYSCATE in November to a wonderful Korean restaurant.

I had the pleasure of meeting @k_shelton and @dgrice and @rushtonh for the first time face to face. FYI, I'd keep an eye on @k_shelton -- he's funny, approachable, warm, engaging, knowledgeable (and not only about food! LOL), and bound for many wonderful things. I spent some 'non-tech' time with @dgrice at the Gaggle reception (thank you Gaggle!) discussing his upcoming trip up, up, up, up North. As for @rushtonh? I had registered for one of his BYOL on creating a video in 10 minutes. OMG!!! If you ever see his name on a program, attend the session! Not only does he have the information, he's a showman extraordinaire! I must have laughed during at least 60% of his session. Think about it, laughter = more oxygen to the brain = more knowledge actually getting into the brain!

And how's this for 'Twitter Tag': @spedteacher and I had been trying to connect F2F at NECC. It just didn't seem like it was going to happen. Final tweets on Tuesday indicated that we would both be at the SL Playground in the early morning. OK, maybe it WAS going to happen. I arrive early (around 7 a.m. as I have some graduate course grading to do and the internet at the hotel was 'wonky'), arrive at the SL Playground, and WHOA!!!!!!!!!!!! There's someone sitting in MY lime colored chair that I had (in my head) thought of as my 'office away from home'. OK, that's cool, the couch is still available. I go to sit at the other end of the Playground on the white couch. @RiptideF arrives so we can go over our upcoming session, PLN in SLN. He looks confused (and rightly so) since he expected to see me on MY green chair. I explain that it was already occupied when I arrived. The 'MY green chair' man responded by offering me back MY spot. I graciously (at least I hope I was gracious about it) declined and life went on. On the train ride back as I'm tweeting on my new BlackBerry (which I LOVE -- can't have iPhone, no AT&T coverage where I live) @spedteacher & I come to find out that it was the two of us!!!!! HE was on MY green chair and we didn't even make the connection! LOL

And although I took lots of pics at NECC I have to say that @kjarrett is the unofficial 'official' photographer at NECC (IMHO). The amount of pics taken by him is mind boggling (AND I truly believe that he was the cause of all the internet issues at the hotel -- I mean, REALLY, uploading 23,634,174 pictures to Flickr.com in the evening??????!!!!!!)

And in the spirit of the Intermezzo, I shared two enjoyable meals with @RiptideF one at BusBoys and Poets where I ate so much at lunch, but simply couldn't stop the food was that good and the other at a tapas bar on 7th, Jaleo - the dates wrapped in bacon and fried were simply scrumptious! (And I DON'T normally eat dates).

OK....starting to get full and I haven't even gotten to the Main Course!