June 2, 2007

It was an early day for me. 6 am! I was actually ready for it, though, because I was so excited about going to the SLA conference. This is my first time going to SLA and my first conference with over a few hundred people! By 9:30 am, Matt and I were on the road to the airport. We made good time, and I was at the Southwest gate with plenty of time to spare.

The flight was a bit bumpy, but not too bad. The ride from the Denver airport was more cramped than the plane, though! I did not know that I shuttle van could actually hold that many (10 + the driver) people!

We had a good drive, though. I ran into a representative from SLA vendor Dow Jones, Anna Maria Masters. We had a great chat all the way from the airport to our hotels. It definitely made the hour ride to downtown seem to go much quicker. It also made me feel easier about going to such a big conference where I do not really know anyone on my own.

I was booked into the Adam’s Mark Hotel. The staff has been really friendly and helpful, and the rooms are nice and clean. My stay has already been eventful, however. When I first arrived in my room and kicked off my shoes, I was unhappily surprised to find the carpet was wet. Thankfully, someone was able to come check to make sure that there was no leak. They said that someone must have just spilled some water.

While I was still fuming a bit about my now wet socks, I had yet another unpleasant surprise. I was sitting calmly on my bed looking over some paperwork when two people walked into my room. Somehow, they had been assigned the same room and now had keys to it…suffice to say I was on the phone with the front desk immediately. The hotel rekeyed my room and brought me new keys, but now I am a bit worried about leaving my belongings in the room. As an apology, however, I was provided with 2 free passes to the breakfast buffet at Trattoia. They expire tomorrow, so I think I will check it out. I wish I knew someone to give the 2^nd meal ticket, though.

I also discovered that there is a fur/furry convention going on at the hotel. This type of convention is for people who like to dress up as animals (some are also sexually attracted to animals, which makes the conference a bit disturbing). All kinds of new things to think about here!

After all of the excitement with the room, I wandered down to the convention center and followed the flow to the registration desk. What a breeze to check in! And we received REALLY nice bags. The only thing I managed to forget was a ribbon that is supposed to mark me as a newbie so that people will know to take pity on me and point me in the right direction (Ok, so no explanation for why new attendees get ribbons was given, but I can read behind the lines).

While I was at the convention center, I decided to stop and look at the dine around sign-up lists. I want to try one later in the week (I considered the German restaurant one for tonight, but I was really tired and would have had to rush to get to the restaurant 15 min late). Maybe on Tuesday J

While I was looking over the dine around lists, I started a conversation with another conference attendee, Irene S. Laursen. We chatted all the way back to our hotels as I helped her schlep some materials back to the Holiday Inn. Irene had a lot of great tips for me, such as to tuck some business cards in the back of my ID badge and to write notes about card givers on their cards in order to help remember them. The best tip of all, though: Reuters gives free massages at their booth. I have to check that one out!!!!

After some brief downtime in my room where I unpacked and checked my email, I decided to venture out for some dinner. The 16^th street pedestrian mall is great, with lots of restaurants and shops. There were some great street performers out tonight, too, including a group of bongo drummers and a robotic man with a huge afro. I wandered quite a ways down the mall to review all of my options and get some exercise. While one of the breweries (Rock bottom?) really tempted me, I decided to try to find something to take back to the room and eat.

I finally settled on a small burger joint that I had never heard of before, Good Times: Burgers & Frozen Custard. They advertised that there burgers were fresh and never frozen, so I decided what the heck. I ordered a combo with a guacamole burger and fries to go. When I received my order, the bag relayed this message:

Congratulations. You’ve followed your mouth. This is where it’s brought you. To all-natural Coleman beef, topped with whole leaf lettuce and fresh-grilled, honey-cured bacon. And maybe a slathering of spicy guacamole. Perhaps you’re about to dig into a sandwich of 100% chicken breast, a side of seasoned wild fries (or whole-ring onion rings) and a large fresh-brewed iced tea. And if it’s a lick or two of fresh, creamy rich frozen custard that we’ve made in the last two hours, or a thick, rich shake, you won’t be let down. Your mouth wouldn’t do that to you.”

That’s a lot for a burger to live up to. I wish I could say it was the perfect burger, but alas, it was not. It was a bit greasy, but actually tasted very good, especially for $5.69 for the whole combo. It was also very satisfying to someone who is craving something homey and down to earth. The fries were really good, too. Unfortunately, I am sure that the exercise I got when fetching it was lost to the burgery calories…

And so, I am back in my room, ready to veg out for a while before starting my official first day of the SLA conference…woohoo!

See ya tomorrow!