After a very wise talk with Anne last night, she quite rightly pointed out that "you should get out more"...
Despite the fact that this can be very obvious advice, its easy in the frustration and concentration of trying to find a job to resolutely confine oneself in ones make-shift office, mine being a kitchen table in flat 40 :-) Close to the coffee machine, close to the bathroom, no window though...:-P
Lucky for me I had plans to attend two conferences today.
Lucky for me both of these were at Earls Court. Whats the chances that the two conferences that you want to attend are at the same venue (albeit different entrances).
Lucky for me continues a little further down the page...
So this morning I headed off to the Technology for Marketing and Advertising (TfMA) conference at EarlsCourt 2 and the International Confex 2009 (Events conference) at Earls Court 1. First thing was first...
T-F-MA...
I've been to quite a few technology conferences in my time and this one jumped out at me as yet another. Funnily enough though somewhat lighter as it was directed at the Marketing and Advertising groups. I entered, was given a Event Guide. Spent around 20 minutes going through the event guide and trying to find anything that interested me. Anything that connected me to the event. Having looked online at their website I was intrigued with a number of different aspects but well there it was far more difficult to really answer the question "So why sir are you here? What are you interested in finding out"... Ahhhh yes I thought, I found a Mobile Marketing Association section. Something they were pushing quite hard. I've worked at a company that creates platforms for Mobile marketing applications. I entered the GREEN zone.... welcomed by a middle aged man who the minute he heard that I was interested in finding out a little more about the potential but stating that I was unemployed headed for the hills with a "Well, I wish you the best of luck"... a smile quirky smile and off he went to hide behind a number of other Stall salesmen.
What I always find funny at these major conferences is that sometimes there are plenty of people at one stall but nobody talking to them. The company has clearly overestimated their demand. This is made even more comical when they insist on placing the team in a tiny little cubicle the size of an American bathroom stall/cubicle... some part of me thinks that they probably send their staff their to be laughed at and punished for some work-related issues.
At other stalls there is loads of empty spaces and only 2 sales people. Sometimes these people look like Mongolian herdsmen in large open plains... nobody dares tread into the large stalls as they fear the wrath of the herdsmen looking over... other times these two poor salespeople are left with enough people that are intrigued by the size of the stall and obviously think that by splashing more they have something more important to say... not often the case.
So to make a long story somewhat shorter, I walked around but really couldn't for the life of me identify how I could benefit any of these companies or how I could sell myself in this situation.
Lucky for me there was CONFERENCe number two...
International Confex 2009
Whereas the T-M-F-A was full of Suits... suits and more suits... (seems like IT nerds always wear suits very rarely and its very easy to tell at these events)... the International Confex, a conference/exhibition for the Events industry was viewed a larger mix of casually and overly formally dressed people...
Upon entering after having paid my £20 entrance fee... I was welcomed by Willy Wonka who was standing beside a bunch of little Oompa Loompas... now what can I say... anytime I see an OOMPA loompa I know I'm in for a good time... so away I went...
At this conference at least my story was clear. I was interested in Sports events... Bending the truth a little I mentioned to a lot of the people that I was speaking to that I was starting up a Sports Event Management company... not totally impossible but quite unlikely... nevertheless I had far more opportunity to converse with a range of different people. This conference was fun...
While wandering I spoke to among others a spokesperson for Knebworth House, a very posh looking castle/estate... I'm potentially looking at the opportunity to assist a guy in industry to bring a sporting event to the UK and this location would be very kool...
I also found an "Advice Center" with loads of useful brochures, magazines etc and a friendly lady who managed to set me up with a career consular... a recruiter from a recruitment agency
Lucky for me she had a few minutes free and could see me
Lucky for me i had a copy of my CV in my bag.
She took a look at it and called my CV "impeccable" and was quite impressed and said she would see what she could do... first bit of positive encouragement I've gotten for quite from any source of employer/recruiter etc... then again all the recruiters that have looked at my CV have not been able to find a single thing wrong with it...
So basically I had a good look around before coming on back to finish my day here...
That leaves me with my two stories of the day though...
My London Tube Story of the Day
I don't know what it is about me and the TUBE but it seems like every time I go on it I get an incredible story... here's my incredible story for the day...
While riding on the Piccadilly Line southbound from Kings Cross to EarlsCourt a Japanese male passenger entered somewhere around Green Park... carrying a huge backpack, a bottle of water, a plastic bag and a newspaper he scuttled around to find a place to sit... finding one between two girls...
He sat down... put the bottle of water between his legs, started fidgeting with his stuff tryin to get his backpack off and his bags in the right place when he squeezed his legs together... OOOOOPS... SQUUUUUIIIIRRRTTTT... the woman sitting next to him gets a ray of water straight in her face...
The girl sitting next to this Japanese guy couldn't stop laughing politely into her hand... the girl whom the guy had squirted looked slightly annoyed, a proper posh blond girl in her 20's... and the Japanese guy looked embarrassed and slightly stressed but very apologetic... they were both soon laughing it off though... but the site of a ray of water arching through the sky over the aisle in a subway train and striking a woman in the face is priceless...
London Story number two
Standing outside the CONFEX debating whether to pay the £20 entrance fee... I notice a woman sitting on the steps looking incredibly similar to a famous person... her facial movement and hair, the most uncanny resemblance but I brush it off... thinking.. nah.. what would she be doing here, and what would she be doing outside on the steps ?!?... So I enter the conference and while looking at a schedule for speakers... I notice her name... I'm like... damn .. that really was Ruby Wax.
By Anne making me realise I should get out more, she might have inevitably given me more funny stories of my times out n bout in this crazy town...
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