Computation, Caffeination, and Conflagration

Two years ago I attended The O'Reilly Emerging Technology Conference. It was the first technology conference I had ever attended, and I couldn't have picked a better entree. At the time I was enamored with distributed social software and the semantic web, completing my Masters thesis on the subject, and looking forward with trepidation to graduating and finding my niche in the tech community. I knew nary a soul, and I bounced around wildly, talked to everyone, forgot every name, got drunk, and had the time of my life.

Two years and three jobs later, I'm working for Yahoo in the semantic web field and once again attending ETech--this time accompanying colleagues and technically minded friends. I wouldn't be fooling anyone if I said I was older and wiser, and would approach this experience with greater gravitas and professionalism.

But apart from the general mandate of not embarassing my employer, I happen to know that nothing has changed and I'm going to act like a kid in a candy store. This is the most fun I've ever had in a room full of geeks. I keep glancing at my registration confirmation (paid in full, thank you YHOO) and giggling.

Comment if you're coming. And see you there!