I couldn't muster the enthusiasm for a keynote today, so I went for a walk, stopping first for a doughnut at Top Pot because it was highly recommended by my friend Chris Rock, and then down to the Pike Place Market to wander some, and then to Starbucks #1 for some coffee. Sadly the 'character' that was there on my last visit wasn't there this time - he just stood in the corner and after you finished adding cream/sugar/whatever to your coffee, he would go over and neaten things up again so that everything was...just so.

After coffee it was back up hill to Barnes and Noble where I read some of a book about customer service (and a story I'll share in a later post from that reading), then finally back to the Convention Center to get into the technical stuff. That was the plan anyway, but I ended up spending most of the day just visiting with people. Time well spent, but does sometimes make you feel like you're not trying hard enough to learn new stuff.

At the end of the day I went out to do some gift shopping, finally boosting the local economy at the near by Made in Washington store. They had some stuff by Washington artisans, and I hadn't realized that Glass Eye Studio was a WA company. I try to find something before I get to the airport; sometimes airport have really nice gift shops, sometimes it's just coffee mugs  and T-shirts. Back to the hotel to drop off the bag, then back to the conference for the Thurs night party (a little too loud if you ask me, I like to be able to have a conversation), then back over to Barnes & Noble to pick up two books Steve recommended; The Lost Fleet and Red Thunder, and then off to yet another of those dinner parties for some shop talk and networking (though by now I'm ready to just watch out the window and not talk!).

The weather this week has been the best I've ever seen during a visit here, one day was actually pleasant and sunny, the rest only mild and bearable cold. Today when I started out it was fine without a jacket, as I got closer to the waterfront the combination of a light rain and decent winds made a jacket required. Does make you appreciate all the businesses that provide over hangs so you can shelter from the rain some.

You're probably wondering about the election. In between all of the above I went back over to find out the results (voting ended about 3 pm, got the news about 5 pm) and amazingly I'll be a board member for 2009-2010. I haven't heard who the other two winners are yet, the final results will be announced at the Fri morning key note. I didn't have any idea what my chances were, I really didn't do a lot of campaigning (hard to figure out a way to do it that didn't seem icky given the constraints) other than my blog, so I attribute it to my PASS related blog posts resonating some with those that were voting, and probably more so the relationships I've built over the years. In any case I'm looking forward to participating, and to trying to provide even more translucency to PASS over the next two years.

Once I'm assigned a portfolio I'll let you know what I'm doing and why (or not), and in general try to answer as many questions as I can within the scope of what I'm involved in. It'll be a couple months before I attend a board meeting, so if you've got a question or suggestion that I can look into post a comment or drop me a email. It probably won't be a fast answer, but I'll do what I can!

I'm flying home early afternoon tomorrow, probably heading for the airport just after the key note. It's been a good week, but I'm ready to be home with family - though dreading the flight, takes approximately forever to get home.