With so much focus on getting information through the various sites on the internet, it's easy to feel like we can sit at home and learn right through our computer. There's some truth to this, but I'd like to pose this thought, some things just won't ever replace the experience of attending an event in person. We can watch a concert on youtube, but we aren't sitting in the front row feeling the vibration of the drums through our feet.
So when I think back to Saturday at the CRAN Symposium, I'd like to write down these few thoughts. Let's just take a quick look at the presentation schedule...
Lighting Design and Control Strategies with Joeseph A. Rey-Barreau
How do I adequately describe how he sounded as he told us that the Kentucky light bulb is actually "lat bub"?
Rain Screen Wall Construction with Andrew Rogers
Is there any internet method which describes the mood in the room as everyone switched into technical inquisitive mode?
The Art and Design of the Plumbing Fixture with Ferguson/Dronbracht
I can show you the picture of the blue tub in the same bathroom with the red shower, but I won't be able to capture the shocked and amused expressions on the audience's faces.
Successful Photography and Web Media with Ed Massery and Paul Jauregui
I don't think that any video would truly capture the way that everyone kept raising their hand to ask questions or the excitement of the audience as they gobbled up every nugget of information.
Digital Tools with Kevin Klinger
How do you describe in a blog the passion that someone has for their home state and region when it comes to manufacturing history and potential manufacturing future?
I can tell you that having dinner with four new friends was like having dinner with some of my college friends, but I can't actually put you at that table to experience the random conversation or the pause in it while someone snaps a photo.
And I can tell you that while walking down the hall to my hotel room I passed a room of young men (upper teens) with their hotel door open, but I can't transmit the smell of what could only be some really stinky sneakers!
The schedule of the symposium was jammed packed. When sessions weren't going on, endless networking and conversations were. The enthusiasm was palpable but I simply can not do it justice with a few descriptive sentences.
And just in case these examples weren't enough to entice you to attend next year...there's nothing that can replace the experience of going out to the blues bar only to end up spending the evening with Dan Akroyd the way that a few lucky attendees did!
Next year the symposium will be in Newport RI, so if you'd rather experience these things than read about them on this blog, I recommend marking your calendars now for what I expect will be a great in-person experience.