It appears that Gnomedex, one of the big blog/tech/geek/pick-a-descriptor conferences is coming to Seattle this summer, and Julie’s going to be speaking. Congrats, Julie!
I’ve got to admit, I’d love to be able to go to this thing. While I’m hardly one of the “big players” in the blogosphere — heck, most of the people who are going to be there probably would only know me because of my adventures at Microsoft — I think it’d be fascinating to be able to meet some of these people, get an idea at what it’s like to be part of one of these conferences I read about from time to time, sit in on the sessions, and generally absorb the atmosphere and see what all goes on. Besides, while I may not be one of the movers-and-shakers in the tech world, I’ve been tracking and using many of the technologies that these people have come up with and influenced over the past few years, and it would be neat to see a little bit of the “insider’s view” of everything.
The downside, of course, is that the registration fee for the conference is a bit out of my reach at the moment ($399). Technically, I could probably afford to sign up (though it would be tight), but that’s a big enough chunk of money with my current operating budget that I just can’t justify spending it on the event — that’s money that would be put to far better use for food, paying off bills (which I’m finally starting to get a handle on…it’s slow going, but progress is being made), and other such day-to-day sundries.
Note: This isn’t a complaint at all about the cost — I’m under no illusions about how much it might take (both financially and in the actual work itself) to put one of these conferences on — merely a reflection of my own current state. :)
Maybe I’ll just grab my camera and head down there every so often during the conference weekend and play the role of the blog world’s geeky-fan-boy-cum-slightly-freaky-stalker.
“Hey…guys…don’t look now, but that weird guy in the skirt is following us again.”
;)
“Bridge is Over” by Boogie Down Productions from the album Hits From The Vault Vol. 1: The Pioneers (1981, 3:26).