Nate, our fearless leader recently braved the cold of Florida for the COSUGI Conference, this is what he had to say about his trip.
There’s a line from the Simpson’s where Flanders takes his family to Moe’s Family Feedbag. When Moe curses while waiting on a table, Flanders says, “I expect that kind of language at Denny’s, but not here!” That was the general feeling during the 3-day conference for COSUGI when it came to Florida’s weather—we expect that kind of cold weather where we were coming from, just not in Florida.
SirsiDynix has no control over the weather, so we can’t fault them for holding the conference during one of the coldest times since 2002. Other than being able to see your breath in the morning or at night, the actual conference part of the stay was very nice.
By some estimates, there were around 600 attendees to COSUGI. Many of those were no doubt employees of SirsiDynix, but there was a very healthy number of library staff coursing through the Coronado Springs Resort where the conference was held.
As for Backstage, we had a booth set up (#216) right next to data2—both of whom we work with. The mornings tended to see the most traffic through the exhibit room, with it tapering off towards the afternoon.
On Wednesday, March 3, SirsiDynix hosted a dinner party at Disney Hollywood Studios, called “Streets of America.” That portion of the park was leased, so a large group of us could dance & dine the night away listening to 80’s music blaring from a professional DJ and his decked out van. Though the cold threatened to sully the mood, at least there was a smattering of heat lamps to help ease the chill. Those of us (me) that didn’t think to also pack a sweater were very grateful for the extra warmth—or we could have joined in on the impromptu dancing!
COSUGI also conducted a lot of different meetings, discussion groups, and presentations. In all, it was a very fruitful trip, even though I hear the tomato crops really took a beating while we were there.
Nate Cothran