2003/05 Prague and Sussex trip - Conference |
|||
I had to attend the conference’s welcome reception in Vysehrad, just a couple of metro stops away. The Conference Center includes a casino and a Holiday Inn, where most of the delegates were staying. I couldn’t see any sense in traveling 4600 miles to stay at a Holiday Inn, so that’s why I was at the Jalta.
The conference center was the usual anonymous block of concrete and glass. We had one exhibition floor and a number of conference rooms spread over three floors. There were more delegates than we expected; a lot must have booked at the last minute. Unfortunately, by this time, I was feeling really groggy, with headache, fever, and sore throat, so I bailed out of the reception as soon as I could. Even so, it was a rough night with hardly any sleep.
Luckily the Monday session was mainly keynote speakers, so all I had to do was appear to be listening attentively, which was just as well as I had no voice and could hardly breathe. I staggered out to eat in the evening, but couldn’t taste anything.
By Tuesday, I had one of those coughs where the whole body participates, so I knew it was going to be a rough day. Luckily, I only did that a few times in my first presentation, and it went quite well, even getting a Swedish customer to volunteer to try out one of our ideas. We had thunderstorms that evening and I ate dinner underneath an umbrella with rain crashing down around me. Another bad night.