Is This a Business Conference or Am I On Vacation?

In my last post, I wrote about the spectacular Weasku Inn in Grants Pass, Oregon. Today, I'm going to share why I was there.

So I thought I was going to attend a 5-day business conference in a natural Pacific Northwest setting, which in itself, was a nice diversion from the typical Grand Hotel-style conferences I typically attend. But now that I've returned, I'm not so sure it was a business trip because I had way too much fun.

Read my Top 10 Kewl Moments below and you be the judge.

The Business Side of the Story: The Pacific Northwest BI Summit 2007

For the last 6 years, Scott Humphrey, founder of Humphrey Strategic Communications, has hosted an annual Pacific Northwest BI Summit. He invites data industry experts and software vendors to discuss the latest industry trends - mostly in the BI (business intelligence) space. And all in a casual, informal Pacific Northwest setting. Gotta luv that!

This year, the industry experts were Jill Dyche, Claudia Imhoff, William McKnight and Colin White.  I've written about Jill previously. On the vendor side, Scott invited a handful of companies, including mine (Noetix) for the first time - and I was the Lucky Dog who got to go!

The event would not have been complete without Shawn Rogers and Ron Powell from Business Intelligence Network. They were fantastic, and I'll be writing all about them in my next post. I'm still chuckling about them.

Top 10 Kewl Moments

Listed below in no particular order are some kewl highlights from the trip:

• I got to hang out with some of the neatest people in the industry (besides those already mentioned, Donald, KimS, ScottD, Greg, Steve, Karen, KimD, Joe and Jeff)
• I did attempted yoga for the first time in William's yoga class
• I did my first podcast with Jill (it's now posted on b-eye-network.com and iTunes)
• We attended a wine tasting party at Colin's house in Ashland
• We had an exquisite dinner at the historic Ashland Springs Hotel
• We attended the play "On the Razzle" in Ashland
• We spent an afternoon hanging out in the Rogue River (literally)
• I learned how to fly cast with Megan, Scott Humphrey's daughter
• Some of us saw Jupiter and 4 of its moons up close & personal with Colin
• On my cabin's deck, I read a book I need to finish before school next week

So you tell me: Was I on a business trip or was I on vacation?

Whatever it was...to Scott and everyone else who attended the Summit this year...THANK YOU! It was great fun!

Comments

[Kendall Kunz]

Vacation, including meetings with smart peeps!