On the advice of several folks, I made a conscious decision this year to spend less time attending sessions and more time with people. A fair number of attendees approach the conference this way, and it makes even more sense for me since my deafness makes actually hearing what goes on in sessions rather dicey, depending on the room acoustics, the speakers’ voices, the number of people present, the prevailing winds, etc. More often than not, I end up listening to an hour of talk that sounds like the adult voices on Peanuts. So this year was Introvert Does the Social Conference.

On Thursday I worked in Oak Park until late afternoon and then came up to Palmer House in time for Jim Porter, Catherine Latterell, Dànielle Devoss, and Stuart Selber's panel. And that was the only session I went to. The rest of my time that evening was spent in the Wiki SIG (where I finally had a chance to introduce myself to Matt Barton). It was a small SIG, only about six of us. Still, it was a very productive discussion about wikis and pedagogy. I think it’s useful to have that discussion apart from the Blog SIG, since the two technologies are so different in philosophy and intent. Besides, an important part of a SIG is the tribal aspect. It was good to be in a room with other people who had been thinking about wikis for awhile.

Friday morning was Not Coffee with Jo(e). We had agreed to meet for ‘coffee,’ not realizing that neither of us actually drank the stuff. She was exactly as I’d thought she’d be — smart and funny and well-spoken. We spent a pleasant hour swilling water and juice and talking about blogs, identity, family, and whatever else drifted through our heads. From there, I went straight to lunch with my old professor Barb L'Eplattenier and her writing partner, Lisa Mastrangelo. Barb and I have one of those friendships that just picks up wherever we left off, and I’d been wanting to meet Lisa for a couple of years now. We gossiped and compared doctoral program experiences. After excursioning to Kinkos and dropping Barb off at her next session, I hung around in the book exhibit, where I found Tyra O'Brian, and then sauntered around the lobby for awhile and ran into several other professors from my masters program. Then my godmother, who’s currently studying at the Lutheran Seminary in Hyde Park, came and swooped me up for coffee. I made it back in time for the Blog SIG, which Clancy and Mike did a great job of running. (I somehow managed to not realize Mike was that Mike, and so neglected to introduce myself until the next day. We’ve only been reading each other for what, three years.) I also met Derek, who I have an odd little connection with. We both started our doctoral work at the same time, and have been cheering each other on for the past couple of years without ever meeting. He and Collin both project a glacial calmness that belies their active minds. Some interesting things were said in our small group session on blogs and professionalism. Maybe I’ll get a minute to write more about that later.

Saturday Mister Husband and I headed back over to Hyde Park for some research (more on that too, from one or the other of us.) We got back to the Palmer in time for lunch at Miller’s, which has the best onion rings, and then I hustled upstairs right as the IP Caucus was starting. I was only able to stay for the first half, because conference fatigue and the beginnings of illness were setting in. But Karen Lunsford gave a smart welcoming address, and John Logie reported in from the IP Committee. He also distributed a working draft of the first in an annual series on the major intellectual property developments for scholars of composition and communication. The Caucus voted unanimous support for publication, which pleased me since I have a piece on the Google Print suits in there.

So it was a good Cs, and a great trip. (Check out Mister Husband’s photos if you haven’t already.) Now it’s time to bust out with these last five weeks of coursework.