When Was The Last Time I Was Here?

The view from my seat.

Thursday was another late night in the city as the entire office (at least those not on vacation) headed to the Pennsylvania Convention Center for the Enterprise Awards. While I would much prefer spending the evening with my family at home, it is an evening that only comes around once a year and it offers many of us a chance to catch up with those with whom we rarely have a chance to run in to during the course of our usual week. For me, it is also the event when I can personally thank the person who introduced me to my current employer two years ago. Thankfully the night was uneventful and I didn’t have any encounters with potholes on my way into the city!

I have never been one who has enjoyed driving in the city and I really don’t care much for cities in general (of course, there are exceptions to every rule which has been evident in previous posts).  As I circled around the block and into the parking garage I tried to think about the last time that I had been to the convention center. Unable to think of the event, I corkscrewed up to the 5^th level and found a space in close proximity to the 13^th Street elevator.

As I got out of the car and began walking to the far end of the floor, I joined a couple of other people also wearing tuxes. As we chatted during our decent to the ground level, out the doors, and made our way down the sidewalk it was an interesting twist on what is usually a common occurrence for me. As it turns out, they were the ones headed to a lodge meeting while I was off to some other event. So we parted ways at the entrance to the Grand Lodge and I waked a couple more blocks and into the main lobby of the Convention Center. This is when it hit me… I hadn’t walked through those doors since Fan Fest right before the 1996 MLB All-Star Game. Wow, nearly twenty years.

The networking before the awards dinner was the usual affair with many of us catching up with various companies from the area and reconnecting with those we met last month during Philly Tech Week. Before we knew it (partly because it took so many of us to get into the city and find parking), we were heading up the escalators and finding our seats. While I preferred the venue from last year (Valley Forge Casino) the format for the evening made much more sense combining the awards with dinner (although it would have been nice to have an option other than salmon).

As most awards programs do, the evening ran quite a bit longer than expected and we didn’t start clearing out of the building until well after 10pm. Overall, there were come really interesting companies, nice acceptance speeches, a great recognition ceremony, and a couple of people that should never be asked to speak publicly again (they should have had the music ready for some of the acceptances like at the Oscars). But, we all parted ways having reconnected for an evening and hoping to stay in touch a little more over the next year. At the very least, there are a few more people that I will be certain to say hello to next year at the next awards banquet.

Where Did Those Emails Go?

Not a message you want to see pop up on your screen!

Lately I have been having some issues with my computer… again. I stepped away from my computer just before noon on Monday and when I got back to my desk the automatic updates had already kicked in. Normally this is just an annoyance so I decided to take a lunch break and resume the multitude of projects immediately after. However, when I returned the icon on my laptop was still swirling… this was followed by error messages and a frozen screen. An hour and several expletives later and I was finally back on the home page backing up all the files… almost like I knew what was going to happen next.

Shortly after I finished the data dump onto my external hard drive, the screen went blank and my laptop nearly sailed across the room and through my window. After informing IT about the problem (still waiting for the laptop to be fixed by the way), I was able to resume my work on the office backup computer (i.e. the old laptop of a former coworker). Even though I had all the files I needed I still had to deal with web access for email and rely on the small Seagate to retrieve all of my documents.

However, two issues persisted. The first is the fact that when Outlook and my computer crashed, all the emails that I had written and sent over the past hour never made it to their destinations and I couldn’t find them in the outbox, drafts, or sent files. Basically I lost half a day of work and had to redo all the edits and responses that should have been communicated. There are also limitations in Outlook functionality between desktop and web access which is proving to be an ongoing issue. 

The second issue I am still dealing with which some would consider minor while others understand the frustration that this can bring about… I am now typing on a completely different keyboard. While it still does the same job, many of the keys are in a slightly different place and so the typos have increased along with a significant decrease in the speed of my typing and subsequent productivity. Furthermore, my work computer also serves as my personal computer which is proving to be a pain in the you know what.

This isn’t the first time that I have had issue with a computer. I can’t even recall how many laptops I have gone through over the years. I have had issues with email, applications, and I have burned out computers in the past. I guess it is about that time anyway so I really should have seen this coming… Well, at least I already had an external hard drive ready to go which was actually fairly up to date. I have also been dumping documents onto the server as of late so I am better off this time than I have been in the past.

It is still annoying and a complete time suck… especially when there is no progress from IT and the broken laptop is still sitting on my desk doing nothing. However, while no other information seems to have been lost beyond the confines of email, I am still taking another step to combat the inconvenience. It is time to get another personal computer. Actually, since I won a DELL Venue Pro tablet (with Windows 8.1 already on it) last month at the Philly Tech Week Signature Event, I think I will go that route and simply add a wireless keyboard. 

That’s right, somehow I keep getting new technology for free… first a Kindle and now a DELL tablet. At least my wife wasn’t there when I won the second one and now I will be better prepared moving forward. So while I transition over I am going to try not to toss (with great vigor) my old laptop into a wall… and do my best to not slam my fist into the keyboard of the one I am writing on currently. This is despite the fact that those where reasonable ways to fix a computer 20+ years ago. Darn dainty temperamental modern technology.

Prolonged Work Week

Spring is generally a busy time of year at the office. While the accounts remain steady, there are a variety of events and shows that take place in the Philadelphia area. Friday night was one of those events. While I had managed to stay away from the city earlier in the week, the final event was something that I could not avoid. So with the entire office heading into the city, we all cleared out and got on the road a little early to get together beforehand.

Well, that was the plan and I attempted to carry out that plan but ended up making the long trek through North Philadelphia via route 1 all the way over to the Wynnewood train station where I hoped on the R5 into the city. It is not a very long or complicated story, in fact it has happened a few times before, but I will save that for another post. In the end, I am glad that we all decided to leave a bit early because even with the long delay/detour I was still able to make it to the Comcast Center with a few minutes to spare.

The Philly Tech Week Signature Event is something that we attended last year so we expected the large crowd crammed into the lobby of the office building. While it can be challenging to get from one place to another, the interesting part of the night is stopping by all the booths to see what kinds of companies are there and the different technologies that are being developed. Scattered among the larger companies like Comcast and Microsoft are other, smaller, ventures that really puts the Philly tech scene in perspective.

There were companies present that offered a new way for businesses to track employee expenses, personal DNA testing kits (to test for illnesses), 3D printing companies making portraits of attendees, and brain training glasses designed to increase focus and performance. Of course, this is just a small sampling of the different people with whom I spoke. It was quite the variety and I am interested to see where all of these companies go over the next year.

With the music having gone silent and the bars closed, we all gathered near the door and went our separate ways for the overdue weekend. It was a long night and a long journey home but thankfully there was a lot to think about during that extended commute. If only things had gone so smoothly… but you will have to read more about that tomorrow.

Ending The Work Week With A Trip To Philly

The work week came to an end this evening after another slow slog into the city for a final cocktail reception at the Comcast Center to wrap up Philly Tech Week. It was a warm night with a breeze that offered a cool respite from the heat generated by the tech savvy crowd filling the tent just outside the main lobby. I arrived early in the evening with sore feet and heavy eyes. Upon looking around, I was not the only one in this state as the mass of people seemed ready to put an end to the week with one final evening of demonstrating, promoting, and relaxing a little around the open bar.

With name tag hanging around my neck I began walking around the room to see what interesting companies, programs, and people were lined up at tables on the perimeter. It really was an interesting mix ranging from Neat scanners to AutismExpressed, mobile marketing technology and warehouse management solutions to foreign governments (got a really nice bag from the UK Tech Council). The companies were as diverse as the swag that lined their tables and it was a fascinating journey from one company to the next.

While many people might not see Philadelphia as a hotbed for innovation, the products and services that filled the reception area and some of the idea being pitched and discussed throughout the evening put that misconception to rest. It really was one of those evenings when you knew that you weren’t the smartest person in the room but, at the same time, everyone was walking around with that same sense which opened up the conversation and allowed for interactions that are pretty unique and very much embodied the Philly mentality. It was an experience watching this dynamic in the room as you could tell that many were not used to being in that position but embraced it nevertheless.

For me, this was also an evening to enjoy the people I work with. After making the rounds and learning as much as I could about the tech scene represented this evening, I joined up with my colleagues as we continued to meander around the reception area both in the lobby and in the tent. As the evening wound down, we all began to relax more and more spending many of the last moments catching up with (and in my case being introduced to) some former coworkers. Before long, exhausted from both the week and the evening we slowly made our way toward the exit stopping along the way for some final chats and a final Shake Shack burger.

As is the case with all receptions and events, it only took us about 3 minutes before we were able to finally exit the tent. The night had cooled significantly but the open space of the city sidewalk was welcomed even with a slight chill in the air. It was finally time to head home and get some overdue rest before rolling out of bed tomorrow morning at 6. The work week was finally over but my week still had another day to go.

 

And The Long Week Begins…

Our location for the evening.

Fortunately, the week began in a normal fashion with the usual projects and correspondences crossing my email. Actually, there was a little extra work in that I had to get the rental application completed and submitted to the MIL realtor. But, other than that, everything went according to the usual chaotic schedule. That was pretty much the end of the ‘normal’ part of the week.

Usually I leave the office sometime between 5:30 and 6:00pm and head home or to the lodge (those are the most common destinations after work). However, tonight my journey home had a slight detour as I drove into Philadelphia for a networking event that my company sponsors. Hello MoMo (Mobile Monday)! Working for a PR firm that focuses exclusively on the tech industry, this week is full of events which will be pulling us out of the office at various times. This is the nature of our work days during Philly Tech Week.

Honestly, I haven’t been to many networking events lately as my schedule has been fairly booked with work, lodge, work, apartment hunting, work, blogging, work, and other things. Tonight was a nice little change from the usual and, actually, all of the aforementioned topics came up in conversation at various points during the evening. So, with the team spread out across the Yorn office on 24^th Street, we all chatted away talking about work, tech, and anything else that happened to come up in conversation.

While some people at these events go into them with the sole purpose of getting new business that has never been my singular motivation. I just enjoy meeting and talking with new people. At the end of the night, I want to look back on an evening full of great conversations not just a score card of prospects and those not interested. By looking back at the conversations, I have a better understanding of who those people are and get a glimpse of how they conduct themselves in business (most of the time).

The same rule applies to my everyday job of reaching out to and talking with the media. If you go into the call or email with the goal of having a conversation that is generally what you are going to come away with. It is a give and take industry that I work in and embracing that way of conducting your professional life allows you to bring your own personality into the job. It is a way of communicating that translates across all mediums whether it is over the aforementioned phone or email or if it is in a one on one meeting or at a networking event.

The whole purpose is that you have to invest in conversation. People will take note, just like you do in the same situation, of the genuine interest you show in the person and to what they have dedicated their career (at least for the moment). And remember, follow up with those people that you meet and demonstrate that you were listening but also don’t be afraid to have them remind you of anything that may have been lost to the recesses of your mind. If you enjoy meeting people and getting to know them, the ancillary business benefits will naturally follow. Now if you will excuse me, I have to go write some emails.