So Long, For Now

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waving-goodbye
Originally uploaded by strangemagee.

This past week has been a whirlwind (and not just because I was in Chicago). There was the whole travel/number weirdness happening, and I must admit to feeling just a little bit spooked.

Then there was the working days that would extend into the night — for those of you who travel for business, you will know that the work "at home" doesn’t mysteriously evaporate. There were the late night phone calls with my colleagues back home, the emails, the instant messages and the new addiction to Twitter (actually not an addiction, more a dabble).

Blogging seemed to get lost along the way. With the jetlag and the workload bearing down on me, there was little energy left to string more than a word or two together. Perfect for Twittering. Not much good for anything else.

Along the way there have been some spectacular highlights.

Da_pizza2 I had a great time hanging out with David Armano … checking out his office and work space, wandering around the downtown area (that skyline is awesome at night), sharing stories and eating Chicago style pizza.

We talked technology, design, blogging, bloggers, blog stalkers, weirdness, meeting in person and motorbikes. Oh, and Twitter too (it’s all Armano’s fault). DA was surprised to learn that he was the first US blogger that I had met up with … and I hope next time I come over that I have a little more time to meet up with a few more of you!

I love the way that you can meet up with other bloggers and settle into a conversational ease straight away. Sure blogs may be the new CVs, but they work equally well as a barometer of friendship and connection.

While firing up Skype one morning in the office, I got buzzed by Marcus Brown aka the venerable Sacrum. We tried to hook up a voice call but I just couldn’t get my microphone to work … so we had to be content to IM. It just so happened that Marcus was on holiday and sitting back taking it easy. While chatting I checked out his blog and found these beautiful paintings that he is sharing. I was telling him how much I loved the first one … he said "oh Murder in the Barn … that’s my favourite too". Great title. Knew I liked it for a reason. Actually it reminded me a little of one of Marc Chagall’s. "Interestingly", Sacrum may make an appearance at Interesting2007 — Russell’s un-conference in London.

One of the things that I really did enjoy being in the northern hemisphere was being awake at the same time as a lot of my favourite bloggers. And the fact that the Twitter addiction was hitting its straps showed how this sort of group instant messaging was a great way of holding multiple conversations. The randomness appealed to my sense of humour … especially when Pauly started dropping some special insights.

One of the things that I did not like was the lack of time that I had available. I really would have liked to catch up with Paul, Mike, CK, Sharon, Ann, Drew, Mack, Sean, Cam, Pete, Lewis and many others (ok just see most of my blogroll) … it would have had to be a REALLY big coffee morning. Tim was, alas, already travelling to DC by the time I got here … but I am looking forward to his upcoming visit to Australia.

OK … computer’s almost out of juice and I have a few chapters of Citizen Marketers still to conquer before the flight. Hope to speak/Twitter/hear from you soon.

11 thoughts on “So Long, For Now”

  1. Gavin,
    Travel safe and next time…with a little notice, we’re having a “Gavin is Stateside” party! I’ll bet we can gather quite a crowd.
    Drew

  2. Hey Gav,
    It was nice having you here, even though we didn’t get to talk. That Chicago style pizza looks to die for!
    Thanks for sharing the link to Marcus’ paintings–they were wonderful.
    And I think you’ve got me sufficiently curious about twitter. Setting it up this morning. Oh, I just have to do what all the cool kids are doing!

  3. Thank you for the mention dear friend. I wish we coulda hooked up somehow- I was in Chicago for 2 hours each way back and forth from home and DC… but I doubt that woulda worked for a few pints and some laughs.
    I, too, have felt out of touch the past week. I had all kinds of intentions for blogging fom the conference I attended, but it was impossible. Between the workload, the excitement of being in the halls of the nation’s capitol and the crappy wi-fi service in most places… it just didn’t happen.
    Back home now, had some sleep finally and now hopefully I can get back in the swing of things before I jump on another plane in 3 days for another week in Taiwan.
    Glad that you are safe my friend. I can’t wait to get back to Sydney.

  5. It was SUCH a treat (!) to hear your voice on my voicemail last night…I can’t believe I missed you :-(. I’m so pleased you met David–next time please come to NYC. Hope your flight and landing were soft.

  6. Gavin,
    So glad we could meet in person. It was a great evening, good conversation, Pizza and even the weather rocked. What more can you ask for?
    Hope the trip back was OK. Rest up while you can. Gotta save you strenght for the blog stalkers 😉

  8. Gavin,
    I absolutely love meeting bloggers and long-time readers. You are so right about how easy the conversation is. I liked your idea of the “new CV.”:-)
    PS You and I share the blog stalker phenomenon, as you know. ~Sigh.

  9. Glad your trip went well and safely. So, with all your mysterious number dreams, did you win the Lottery? 😉
    Now, about Twitter. It scares me — it sounds TOOOO FUN! Too much info, too much joking, too much insight — I don’t think I can handle it all. As I’m typing this comment, your Twitter widget is being updated right now, and I find myself drawn to read it…I could get REALLY addicted to the constant influx.

  11. lol. you were indeed infected! get tested asap, Gavin!
    Give us more notice next time!! (but your priorities being on sanity and sleep were likely the correct choice in this case… grin…)

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