Doing my part for the economy

I could tell by the double ring of the phone that someone from off campus was calling me. Typically that means a vendor or a magazine rep. It was the latter, calling from a magazine I thought I had already canceled. After several years in the computer industry, I've collected several complementary subscriptions to trade journals, but I've found that I get too many to keep up with, and some are of more value than others. This particular magazine I thought I'd let lapse because it was one that I really didn't see much use in it. I usually like to curtail the call center people before they get into their spiel, so I interrupted the woman after she identified herself, and told her that I wasn't interested in receiving the magazine. Usually, that gets one of two reactions; either the caller will thank me and hang up, or they will go off on some extra text designed to make me feel privileged to receive their magazine. The woman shifted to her prepared text, but this time instead of telling me how great their publication is, she began talking about the troubling economy, and how by simply taking their magazine for free, I can help keep their subscription numbers up and keep their magazine in circulation.

I was a little stunned and surprised. I ended up accepting the complementary subscription, and indicated that I'd take distribution electronically. I think I already have email rules in place to dump the magazine into an archive folder, and I'll probably never even look at a single issue of the magazine, but I'm a sucker for doing things for the economy. Call me a softie, call me a dupe, I guess I'm an easy mark. I wonder if I'll be hearing this approach from other magazines in the future.

My Brush with Greatness!

I'm here in Detroit for the SAE World Congress. It has been interesting, and I made a few contacts. I also came to the realization that the Governator seems shorter in person. That's right, I stood about 20 ft away from Ahnold. I spent a few hours wandering the Expo floor. At one point I looked around and saw this knot of suits and photographers following some route through the vendors. I wondered briefly what the deal was, it sort of looked like a tour. A short time later, I was talking to a vendor. I looked to my right, and saw two men each leading a Doberman on a leash. Then I saw a mass of uniformed policemen. I wondered briefly who it could be, was Obama attending the conference on the sly? Then I saw Governor Schwarzenegger striding in the midst of them. It was kind of exhilarating to be that close to him. Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera ready, so I missed a prime photo op. He swept by down the aisle, and that was the last time I saw him.

So, what was Governor Schwarzenegger doing at SAE World Congress? He was on a panel discussing the future of green vehicles. I did snap a picture of him on a big screen during the panel. The auditorium was so full there was no chance I could even get close enough to take a picture of him directly.

I've also felt severely under dressed. I've attended conventions before, but they were all computer technology conventions. People dressed pretty casual, you know, jeans and t-shirt. Here, the vast majority of people are wearing suits and ties. It seemed that most people took me for a student. If I had this all to do over again, I would have bought a company polo, and wore that around here.

Most of the vendors here are parts manufacturers or people who support them. I've seen more of the innards of gas engines than I ever knew existed! But, I have made a few contacts, and had some good discussions with some here. One guy in particular had actually already been in discussions with one of the scientists at the lab, and had been arranging a visit. He seemed interested in what we have been doing on my project, and wanted to add that as part of his visit too. Hopefully something will come of it.

Well, I need to get ready for bed. It's almost 1 am here in the Eastern time zone. My sleep schedule is already messed up, not to mention my eating schedule.