From Boulder to Naperville in 18 hours yesterday is taking its toll.
Regardless, after three weeks of being on the road, it is good to be home and back to nerding out with my old partners here in the man pit. I think that my gear gets lonely when I'm not around.
We'll be on the road today headed home to Naperville, so this show gets short notes:
We rejoin Betsy, Jeanie and the kids on the descent from the mountain
Kris arrives in Boulder
Jeanie invents a game called "Slap a Subaru" (you'll have to listen for directions) for playing in Boulder
Betsy and Jeanie drop the kids with Kris and leave town for Elk Mountain Resort
They get lost and eat lunch in Breckenridge
After a four more hours of driving they arrive at Montrose, CO near the resort
The ladies make it to Elk Mountain Resort
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Adam from Podshow (not that Adam) told me that he would have the video up from the pre-WordCamp lunch that was hosted by Charles Stricklin and Aaron Brazell from the WordPress Podcast.
That would be your's truly; bald, blue and goateed sitting next to John C. Dvorak. It was a good get together. All the dudes next to Matt are from Automattic.
Some of you might have noticed that Friday we released part 1 of Betsy and Jeanie's (the Mrs. Smiths) Elk Mountain Resort and Valhalla Shooting Club trip. For those of you who didn't, some Croncast specialness awaits.
It was good to record a show again and to knock out the entire story, which will come as three more shows this week starting tomorrow.
It's been a while since we've done a show
The worst part is I can't tell anyone the story
It will ruin the show
We have to tell everyone we'll tell you later
I did see some of the photos baby
Jeanie and I laughed
Don't start there Bears
This is not the typical Croncast, Kris and Betsy story
Sure I have been supplanted by Jeanie
Mr B would have done this anyway
Do you want to tell your story?
Can I give you some hints to telling a story
We are going to start our story from the very beginning
Jeanie rolls up to my house
We have to go to my sister's kids party
My mom and my dad in the same building, stress
The last time was like 10 years since they were in same room
I had nightmares about how bad this trip was going to be
Epiphany was to dope them out with DVD's
Misgivings? Why? Last year was not enough?
So I strap in the DVD player and monitors
We surprise the kids with it
Strap in the kids and pull away
The power adapter pops in, out, in, out
Elliot,"It's on, It's off. It's on. It's off."
With a former truck driver by your side I shouldn't have been worried
Jeanie took a class in map reading
"Betsy, where is the map?"
"I don't have one."
Simply a print out from mapquest
With the kids I figured it out
Take the group home approach, catch them being good
What does Maggie get?
Green dry erase markers
45 minutes later Jeanie says you've got look at Maggie
The scariest site ever
Maggie colored herself green and put chocolate in her hair
She was laughing maniacally
"I funny. I funny."
So we pull over at a truck stop
I walk in with Gigi
Everyone stops, turns and stares at us
She had lifted her dress and colored all the way to her diaper
That woman is totally talking to Betsy
Dry erase markers come off very easy
Where are you at this point?
Western Illinois
Jeanie wanted to hit the world's largest truck stop
Betsy, "Didn't you listen to last year's vacation show?"
Another thing that we learned last year was to get a hotel room
Jeanie was rolling up in the driveway when you booked it
You didn't remember it
Kris, shut up, this is my show
No map Betsy doesn't know where she is
Elliot and Maggie hit the hotel and want to sleep with mama
Elliot has had it and is ready to sleep in the car
Little Kris was in the backseat complaining
Now he reads numbers he made sure to point out we were speeding
I don't recommend the Super 8 in Lincoln, Nebraska
Isn't there something in Lincoln like a university
Jeanie brings the good trip karma with her
The scary omens of the open road
I had apologized to Jeanie
You have got to heed the signs
Every mile marker was a Slowsky moment
I was amazed that we rolled into Denver/Boulder area
The kids have started to melt down
Hey, you've won another Pokeman card
Jeanie, can I have another car
Honey, Mommy is going 90 mph you need to sit still
They waited until we were in traffic to act up
Every parent knows that you kids don't need anything from you until you are merging onto the interstate
We were behind a Prius
It had a blue hair in it, double whammy
Did the exhaust smell like broccoli or cooked carrots?
When you ride with Betsy you are junk coordinator
Fast food dumped in your lap and Betsy sipping on her diet coke
Give me that grilled chicken bitch
I know you, Booba
Speeder! I won't get in to it
Kris has speeding story to tell
My great Denver court room story
We have been here for 12 minutes into the immaculate clean house where we are staying kids flip out
So we leave the house
Where did you go?
Pearl Street
Do you want to stand on a clogged street in 88 degree heat with hippies
Elliot's hippie story, guy's sign said, "need money for a shirt," but I watched him take off his shirt and stick it under a rock
Sounds like Pearl Street to me
Henry is putting up a mark on the chalkboard right now
I know who your favorite hippie is
Jeanie called Evan to tell him that they were going to see the hippies
"My ship has sunk. I need cash"
I told you it was the pirate
Very herbal
They're all playing guitars and wait for you
No judgment, eh Kris?
Pete the pirate
You could start a fish stick line with his name for $6
I have to stand there and tell my son that this stuff is normal
We saw Goth grandma
She doesn't care anymore
You get passed 70 and start tripping on your titties
The point of this story that children work on 15 minute cycles
Jeanie sees the
Here's the reason the hippies bother me
They are balanced out by smug trust fund babies
Betsy, "I only pan handled once. That is a story for another day."
The next day when you came home from San Francisco I made sure we got home right away
Elliot saves family in the mountains
Give him a hard time, you can't mess with the man
We stopped someplace in between
The place where you buy gas in a bucket
We roll into Rocky Mountain National Park
The kids are watching Scoobie Doo at full blast
We are excited about a fox with dead animals in its mouth
Elliot, "Shush, there is a boy named Elliot in this episode"
Momma, I just saw a squid
Momma, I just saw an alligator
Not even close to being in a forest
It's not funny when you are their mother
He got it from a book you bought him
A book about future animals 10,000 years from now with illustrations
I forgot my cell phone
That is what I do Mr. B
So we start going up the mountain
Jeanie is gripping the OSHA car handle
The blood vessels are popping out from between her fingers
She has gone pale
Maggie, "no up. No up. No up."
Betsy talks Jeanie down
Look I'm driving with no hands
Maggie's sense is I'm strapped in
Shut up guys, Scoobie is on
Wrap the show . . . coming back down the mountain
Maybe a little Elk Mountain Resort, Valhalla on Monday, Wednesday
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Hey guys, we tried to record last night and the borrowed equipment gave me more trouble than my nerd mind could figure out. I could only get one mic working at a time and then once it moved it too would stop working.
So Betsy and Jeanie have now left town for Valhalla to become junior survivalists or republicans (I haven't decided which) and will make it back on Thursday night. I'll have some other gear lined up to record with and we'll see what we can get recorded.
At best we'll have a show for Friday, and if not, look for Monday to be the next show.
Today is a Croncastless day. The travel trolls beat me down today on my way back to Denver and Betsy has been up in the mountains all day with Jeanie and the kids.
So after two full weeks we'll get a show done tonight for some special Tuesday joy joy.
That is all. I am going to try not to fall asleep in the office.
As far an unconferences go WordCamp 2007 hasn't been that different from many of the others that I have attended; hit and miss, but mostly miss. David Spark sums up the experience pretty well.
Here's my two cents as an attendee at many events like this:
The only way to have an unconference that gets people excited about coming back again, i.e. PodCamp New York, or speaking about the event is to manage number 1 above. Bring that hallway enthusiasm to the stage.
Unconference organizers should be in contact with their speakers dialogging about how to make their event useful to attendees, memorable, something that makes an impact in their daily lives. Nobody wants to sit and listen to what are essentially product diatribes or be spoken to like they are children.
How to save your unconference:
1) Plan, plan and plan some more. Plan everything and have a plan for it your plan doesn't work (because it is an unconference doesn't mean that attendee expectations are lower when they walk through the door than they would be for the $1000 conference that you bemoan)
2) Tell your speakers to get prepared (this is a golden opportunity to share experiences that can help people not make the same mistakes)
3) Create attendee tracks (create unconference value by allowing a channel for filtered conversations a.k.a. hallway conversations)
This post might not come off like it, but I am a big fan of unconferences. However, I am beginning to think that the best conferences might be a mix of the traditional and the new step-child. Maybe that is what I'll experience at Gnomedex next month. We'll see.
Ever had someone tell you that you have to go and check out the bathroom in a restaurant? Well, I'm another person telling you to check out a bathroom.
Sink of the day (SOTD) comes from Home restaurant at 2100 Market St. @ Church San Francisco.
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