Get up.
Coffee.
Nap.
Packing.
Nap.
Go downstairs to the lobby and bead during David's Google calls.
Nap.
Email.
Nap.
Get dinner across the street.
Nap.
Get David's flights for Panama.
Sleep.
Yup, it's been a great day!
Friday, May 2, 2014
A case study, an interview and a rap (Thursday)
Today was the final day of CHI - Industry Day - and the day I was presenting both my Case Study in the morning and an interview in the afternoon. The interview ended with a wrap-up in the form of a rap. ;-) Here's a (poor) video of it: Wrap-up Rap
The opening and closing Plenary sessions were both fabulous. Elizabeth Churchill (who also interviewed me in the afternoon) gave the morning one on things to make us cheerful. It was full of great ideas and synthesized things very well. Scott Jenson was our closing Plenary, talking about the Internet of Things. Both were wonderful and I'm glad I got up (for Elizabeth) and stayed (for Scott)
However, I'm totally exhausted and am heading to a very early evening. I remember partying until late into the night (or early into the morning) but no longer.
Wednesday, April 30, 2014
BLUR!!!!!!!!! (AKA Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday)
All of my good intentions to blog every night regardless of how late it was have evaporated. Both because it was very, very late and because I was always completely and total exhausted.
Totally.
That's the way things are at conferences of course. Even if you aren't going to sessions, the pace, the people, the walking, the carrying/lugging, the being "on" - it is all just plain exhausting. And many conferences are 2 or 3 days - but this one is 4 days PLUS 2 days ahead with Workshops. And I had a workshop on Saturday and SIG today, so it's been a very long week.
And I'm not even done. Tomorrow is my main day to present.
I'm presenting a case study in the morning on an ethnographic study I did in South Africa. It's bittersweet since Gary was so much a part of this. But it was a very interesting study and I'll be discussing how we made trade-offs as we dealt with the challenges.
Then, in the afternoon, I'll be doing an interview session with a good friend, Elizabeth Churchill. She will be asking me questions about 5 lessons I've learned during my career - things that have relevance for practitioners today. I've spent quite a lot of time thinking about these and am excited to have this opportunity to share them.
My wrap-up summary is going to be a bit different, though, since, honestly, how many people do you think will still be awake during the last session before the closing Plenary? Not many. And I really DO want people to remember these.
So, "the Other Dr. Dray" is making another appearance. I/she will rap the wrap-up. Complete with my backup dancers and beat boxers (aka Student Volunteers) I did a first run through with Kami, who is a fabulous beat boxer, today and I must say I'm VERY excited!
Stay tuned. Tomorrow at this time, it'll be done and I'll either be happy or deeply embarrassed.
I'm sincerely hoping it is the former!
Sunday, April 27, 2014
Sunday, Sunday
Today is gorgeous. Looking out of our window we can see planes leaving and taking off from the Metropolitan Airport - one landing strip as far as I can tell. My flight from Montreal was supposed to have come in there but obviously, my direct flight had to go to the main airport where I could be cleared into Canada. Apparently there's a ferry to get passengers into Toronto. Looks like an adventure. Not one I'd like to do in a storm though...
One guy has been practicing take-offs and landings all day.
The day is going to be a lovely one with David. I'm feeling much better (though not 100%) and I know we'll have fun whatever we do. Given how long I've been away, I just want to hang out with him, and we might well do just that all day. It'd be fine by me. Already we've discussed real estate in Panama (maybe?), Sante Fe, Portland, and a couple of other places as we talked about ultimately retiring to... but I can't quite get my head around not being at CHI, not seeing my friends from around the world, or being involved in the profession. I may need a support group to make the transition. ;-)
And tonight? Tonight is the Awards Dinner.
I'm excited.
Very excited.
Because I'm being inducted into the CHI Academy! [For those of you who are not in this area, here's the link to information about what the heck these things means: About SIGCHI Awards And the list of people getting awards this year at: SIGCHI 2014 Awards. All of the awardees to date are here: SIGCHI Awardees 1998 - 2014 (I got the Lifetime Service Award in 2006)]
For many years, the only people in the CHI Academy were academics. Which really burned those of us who are practitioners. So we started to lobby for practitioners either to be admitted to the CHI Academy or to have their own honorary CHI "Thing" (to be named) For years, we were told that no, only academics could be in the Academy since, after all, it is an "Academy" which means only academics, right? Wrong, we continued to assert, and so the back-and-forthing went on for a number of years. Finally, about 5 years ago, SIGCHI finally changed their minds and agreed.
What's the reason for this history?
Well, I actually love the irony. For many years, I, a practitioner, was the one of ones advocating for this change. And now, I am being inducted. But now, I'm an academic (at least for 4 months)! Ah, what a delicious irony! And a complete hoot!
One guy has been practicing take-offs and landings all day.
The day is going to be a lovely one with David. I'm feeling much better (though not 100%) and I know we'll have fun whatever we do. Given how long I've been away, I just want to hang out with him, and we might well do just that all day. It'd be fine by me. Already we've discussed real estate in Panama (maybe?), Sante Fe, Portland, and a couple of other places as we talked about ultimately retiring to... but I can't quite get my head around not being at CHI, not seeing my friends from around the world, or being involved in the profession. I may need a support group to make the transition. ;-)
And tonight? Tonight is the Awards Dinner.
I'm excited.
Very excited.
Because I'm being inducted into the CHI Academy! [For those of you who are not in this area, here's the link to information about what the heck these things means: About SIGCHI Awards And the list of people getting awards this year at: SIGCHI 2014 Awards. All of the awardees to date are here: SIGCHI Awardees 1998 - 2014 (I got the Lifetime Service Award in 2006)]
 |
| Susan and Jeff Johnson the 2 practitioners elected to the CHI Academy this year. |
 |
| Best of all, a kiss from David! |
What's the reason for this history?
Well, I actually love the irony. For many years, I, a practitioner, was the one of ones advocating for this change. And now, I am being inducted. But now, I'm an academic (at least for 4 months)! Ah, what a delicious irony! And a complete hoot!
Saturday: Working at the Workshop
Wow! What fascinating people are in our Workshop on Gender! So many interesting ideas!
It was a lot of fun too. Which is hardly surprising given who the people there were. :-)
Unfortunately I didn't feel terrific and after lunch, faded altogether. I came back to the hotel via bike taxi and had buildings and facts pointed out. It was fun, though cold (and I do NOT have warm clothes with me coming from Panama) I got back to the room, threw up and fell asleep (around 4 pm). I awoke long enough to eat a sandwich, watch a short video with David (dozing much of the time) and then went properly to bed, sleeping through the night until about 9 Sunday morning. Guess I needed that.
But it does make for a rather dull blog entry, so I thought I'd spice it up with the conference logo:
It was a lot of fun too. Which is hardly surprising given who the people there were. :-)
Unfortunately I didn't feel terrific and after lunch, faded altogether. I came back to the hotel via bike taxi and had buildings and facts pointed out. It was fun, though cold (and I do NOT have warm clothes with me coming from Panama) I got back to the room, threw up and fell asleep (around 4 pm). I awoke long enough to eat a sandwich, watch a short video with David (dozing much of the time) and then went properly to bed, sleeping through the night until about 9 Sunday morning. Guess I needed that.
But it does make for a rather dull blog entry, so I thought I'd spice it up with the conference logo:
Saturday, April 26, 2014
Friday: The Great Migration -- From Disaster to Delight
A very early start.
The driver from the university arrived at 5:30 (instead of 5:45!) and we went over to UTP where he picked up the official car and drove to the airport on Tumbla Muerta. It was great to see the western part of the city as we chatted in Spanish. I'm so tickled I can actually talk with people reasonably fluently! I've been speaking primarily Spanish this week. And I'm concerned that I will lose it next week at CHI where it'll be (almost?) all in English (and perhaps a bit of French?) I anticipate returning to Panama rusty once again.
The Copa Air flight from Panama to Washington was smooth and uneventful. I sat next to a retired diplomat and we had a lovely (brief) conversation before he turned to his laptop where he watched "Ten years a slave" (which I want to see!) I dipped in and out of "Saving Mr. Banks" (which I also want to see properly) and read. Overall a lovely trip so far.
And getting through Immigration and Customs was also uneventful.
The fun began when I got to the A terminal to await my United Express flight to Montreal.
It all seemed fine at first, although we would have to walk out to the commuter plane in an increasingly hard rain, but then, I'm learning how to deal with rain in Panama as the rainy season has arrived. And then the plane developed mechanical issues. For a moment or two, it seemed OK. And then the delay lengthened.
And lengthened.
And I started to get more and more concerned about whether I'd make my connection in Montreal onwards to Toronto and CHI.
So I went up to check about whether there might be a later flight to Toronto from Montreal in case I missed my connection (which was becoming more and more likely)
And it was then that I encountered one of those "Random Acts of Kindness." I suspect now that these are not actually "Random" for these guys.
Asadi (right), instead of simply sending me on a later flight through Montreal, found and booked me on a different United Express flight - directly to Toronto! And then Maxwell (left) scurried out to get my luggage so it could accompany me to Toronto - so I'd have clean clothes for tomorrow.
Delight!
I have to say that I never would have expected (or even thought of) this option, but I am so thankful that Asadi did this for me. It gave me a chance to grab a bite to eat and to catch my breath (and find some new books in English that are hard to find in Panama City) And charge my phone and computer. I was so pleased that I posted it on Facebook and took a photo and then emailed both to Asadi's boss (he's Maxwell's boss as far as I can tell)
See what great customer service can do?
When it time to board, Asadi came and got me to let me pre-board and the rest of the experience with United Express was just great.
Clearing into Canada was smooth and I met Jack Carroll (an eminent scientist and friend from Penn State for those of you reading this who don't know who he is) and we shared a cab to downtown.
Another smooth checkin at the Westin at 1:30 am and a swoop up to the room where David was already snoozing. I tried so be quiet so as not to wake him, but after all this time, I really needed and wanted a HUG!
And so it was. So sweet. So late.
Goodnight. ZZzz....
The driver from the university arrived at 5:30 (instead of 5:45!) and we went over to UTP where he picked up the official car and drove to the airport on Tumbla Muerta. It was great to see the western part of the city as we chatted in Spanish. I'm so tickled I can actually talk with people reasonably fluently! I've been speaking primarily Spanish this week. And I'm concerned that I will lose it next week at CHI where it'll be (almost?) all in English (and perhaps a bit of French?) I anticipate returning to Panama rusty once again.
The Copa Air flight from Panama to Washington was smooth and uneventful. I sat next to a retired diplomat and we had a lovely (brief) conversation before he turned to his laptop where he watched "Ten years a slave" (which I want to see!) I dipped in and out of "Saving Mr. Banks" (which I also want to see properly) and read. Overall a lovely trip so far.
And getting through Immigration and Customs was also uneventful.
The fun began when I got to the A terminal to await my United Express flight to Montreal.
It all seemed fine at first, although we would have to walk out to the commuter plane in an increasingly hard rain, but then, I'm learning how to deal with rain in Panama as the rainy season has arrived. And then the plane developed mechanical issues. For a moment or two, it seemed OK. And then the delay lengthened.
And lengthened.
And I started to get more and more concerned about whether I'd make my connection in Montreal onwards to Toronto and CHI.
So I went up to check about whether there might be a later flight to Toronto from Montreal in case I missed my connection (which was becoming more and more likely)
And it was then that I encountered one of those "Random Acts of Kindness." I suspect now that these are not actually "Random" for these guys.
Delight!
I have to say that I never would have expected (or even thought of) this option, but I am so thankful that Asadi did this for me. It gave me a chance to grab a bite to eat and to catch my breath (and find some new books in English that are hard to find in Panama City) And charge my phone and computer. I was so pleased that I posted it on Facebook and took a photo and then emailed both to Asadi's boss (he's Maxwell's boss as far as I can tell)
See what great customer service can do?
When it time to board, Asadi came and got me to let me pre-board and the rest of the experience with United Express was just great.
Clearing into Canada was smooth and I met Jack Carroll (an eminent scientist and friend from Penn State for those of you reading this who don't know who he is) and we shared a cab to downtown.
Another smooth checkin at the Westin at 1:30 am and a swoop up to the room where David was already snoozing. I tried so be quiet so as not to wake him, but after all this time, I really needed and wanted a HUG!
And so it was. So sweet. So late.
Goodnight. ZZzz....
Thursday Rain
An early morning spent packing. An excellent sense of accomplishment.
A morning spent finishing CHI slides and rap. A great deep sigh of relief.
A lovely evening spent with Elba finding props for my rap (just wait and see!) and having a leisurely dinner spinning dreams and ideas.
Then home to finalize preparations for the Great Migration tomorrow. To bed way too late, but a very satisfying overall.
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