Why I blew off Interop this year

For the last four years ('98-'01), I went to NetWorld+Interop in Atlanta every fall. It's been a valuable show each year, though last year my stay was interrupted because of the September 11th attacks (as mentioned in my previous essay). This year, though, I blew it off. Why did I blow it off this year? Here's why.

N+I has always been useful to me. I go to Atlanta instead of the springtime Vegas show because I enjoy visiting Atlanta, and it's a shorter trip. I also get to hang out with my friend Rich (and his wife Lynn) and play golf for a couple of days before and after the conference. It's also usually a little quieter time at work, so the timing's a little bit better.

This year, though, after much debate, I decided to skip it. I'm sure, when they look at the statistics of who went and who stayed home at K3Media, they'll assume that I stayed home because of September 11th. I'll admit that was a bit of a factor - not so much because I was worried about a repeat performance (I'm not that worried, but I also know I can't do anything about it either), but because of the massive inconvenience that flying entails nowadays, especially that week. I really didn't feel like having my tooth fillings inspected for explosives. I assumed that would be the security scenario this past week. I actually haven't flown since heading down to Atlanta last September 8th, and I really don't mind that being the case - I'm kinda glad I haven't had to make a business trip outside of New England during that time (and with Jane's pregancy, we weren't taking any long leisure trips either).

Nah, that really wasn't the reason. The reason I blew off N+I this year was because of David. In the end, I didn't want to leave Jane to take care of him solo for a week yet. And I really couldn't bear to not see him for that long myself. I try to go home for lunch every day just so I can watch him - how could I not do that for a week?

And it paid off, too. had I gone away this past week, I'd be arriving home today. And that means I would have missed his first giggle yesterday afternoon.

He was laughing for about a half hour when one of his toys really captivated him. of course, he has yet to repeat the performance, but I saw it happen.

I'll almost certainly be back at Interop next year. But this year, there's a little guy in the crib nearby who's telling me I definitely made the right choice.