Time has come for things to get serious. As often happens to me I don’t sleep well when I know I have to get up on time and early! I feel pretty jaded. I meet my new friend David for breakfast. Can barely face a coffee let alone any food.
The trip across Franklin is like driving through a spaced-out Milton Keynes. Nothing much going on. We arrive well on time, register and then a minor blow is received. No coffee today. And the promised ‘food truck’, Smokin’ Butts, will not be coming till tomorrow. I am well prepared with some bread, cheese and crisps for lunch. We get a bit of a keynote and then a blur of information. I try to get onto the VIP dinner tomorrow however it is too rich for my wallet and salad for vegetarians (the theme is bbq) and so value for money is not high for me. It’s shame as I find that Rick Barker, one of the people who I would really like to meet will be attending. The religious element of the audience is quite significant, and I find this a little uncomfortable, as much for not wanting to offend anyone as anything else. I feel a little out of place however I push it aside.
The rest of the day is a bit of a whirlwind. A lot of the information is a consolidation of things I already know rather than anything new. A couple of the sessions are slightly disappointing but generally the standard is quite high. The people from Full Circle are really helpful and nice, and I make some interesting contacts though the omnipresence perhaps stops some the connections going as deep as they might otherwise.
Two high spots are a young woman follows me out of the auditorium and asks says she’s heard I am a producer and would I be interested in helping her with her work. Knowing that saying ‘no’ is an important skill I try to let her down gentle then wonder whether I could at least listen to her work. I give her my email. She is in the rock genre she says, and I would like to hear her work and perhaps I would be able to help her after all. (Note after the event … I messaged her but there wasn’t any follow up from her, not even a link to her music).
The second is that the group coaching session is quite interesting and gives a chance to meet some people and find out a bit more about them and this is a chance to also let people know about me. The group leader Logan is the Full Circle head marketing honcho and was one of the most interesting and approachable of today’s presenters. Two things are a hit. One predictably is the accent which everyone loves. The same as New Orleans people talk to me just so they can hear it. A couple of people seem to find me difficult to understand. Almost as predictably is the name. I start off with just ‘Q’ and that also seems to intrigue. I quite enjoyed being the centre of attention! Ain’t no prima donnas around here.