On September 14, 2009 in Vancouver, Washington, the Center for Information-Development Management (CIDM) held its 11th Annual Best Practices Conference for tech pub managers. The theme this year is from John P. Kotter’s book “A Sense of Urgency”. Kotter talked about the three prongs of his thesis: deathly complacency, a false sense of urgency, and a genuine sense of urgency. Kotter’s four tactics are to bring the outside in, behave with urgency every day, find opportunity in crises and deal with the NoNos. I still have no idea what that last one is all about. Text from DJCline.com
Conference speakers include Elizabeth Anders, Alex Blanton, Maria Brownstein, Terry Barraclough, Helen Cavender, Carl Chatfield, Christopher Gales, Bill Gearhart, Bobbi Gibson, JoAnne Hackos, Tom Parker, Palmer Pearson, Charlotte Robidoux, Kathryn Showers, Suzanne Sowinska, Ann Teasley, Beth Thomerson, Bill Tilley, Scott Wahl, Daphne Walmer, and Paul Zimmerman. As much as you learn in these conferences, you can learn quite a bit by just bumping into people and listening. Text from DJCline.com
I always confuse this town with the one in British Columbia. Some refer to that one as “Vancouver BC” which makes it sound like a bunch of cavemen live there. Here in “Vancouver AD” the hotel looks like it was attacked by Lincoln logs with lots of native themed rugs and the obligatory totem pole in the lobby. Outside, it is a good day, which means it is cloudy and not raining. Outsiders give this area a hard time but it can’t help being where it is. It sits next to two volcanoes, an ocean with rising sea levels, a high tsunami risk and is constantly pelted by polluted rain coming over from China. People should get a medal just for living here. Text from DJCline.com
Housing is cheap but that does not surprise me. The economy is down. I tried to cheer one group up and just couldn’t do it. Their boss spoke to me afterwards and said that most of them were on medication. It keeps the relocated employees from getting depressed but also keeps them from laughing. Some people who move here try to cope in all sorts of crazy ways but are really suffering inside. My heart would go out to them if I hadn’t left it in San Francisco (cue music). Text from DJCline.com
There are ravens outside the window making noises. I guess I’ll go and see what they have to say.
P.S. Can you figure out the joke in this posting?
P
Copyright 2009 DJ Cline All rights reserved.