Let's begin this blog entry with a discussion about usability testing: I cannot figure out the alarm clock to save my life. Thursday morning I woke up without needing the alarm, which was good, because it turned out that I didn't set it correctly in the first place. I have no idea how to decipher the alarm button versus the radio button, so I woke up this morning to the radio--and some really bad DJs. Yikes.
I had the best breakfast this morning. It was a buffet featuring oatmeal. I love oatmeal. And fruit. Both of those things made me not care about asking for a table for one, which is kind of a weird experience, especially when the hostess confirmed the table for one. Yes, lady, it's just me...
Today's memorable breakout discussion rallied around quotes and whether or not they could be altered to make them more interesting. They can--in some instances. Especially when quotes are made up. (Don't even get me started on that topic.) But the journalists totally had their minds blown with that thought--they've been taught never to change a quote. Ever. Lots of swearing ensued.
Quote of the evening by a gentleman running from the banquet: "Find me some alcohol!" (Side note: wine still smells horrible to me, and coffee still smells good.)
The conference banquet this evening was actually more fun than I thought it would be. I ended up befriending a lady from Minnesota, who didn't work for a newspaper either! Two girls to the right of me were from the New York Times--and one of them actually lived in Utah for awhile--and three other people, who knew each other from a Houston newspaper, chatted with us like we were all old friends. They answered my burning question of the day--what the heck is a slot editor?
I really thought I'd sit by people who would only talk with their little groupie, but I ended up sitting at the liveliest table in the entire room. Lots of laughs all around. My corporate-writing friend liked me so much that she put me in charge of not letting her buy any more wine so she didn't drink too much. :)
The other people asked me what I did and where I was from--and there was no discussion about whether I was a Mormon. When I went to Chicago last year, I got drilled about Mitt Romney and why I don't drink and whether we still practice polygamy. But tonight was a great discussion about whether it snows through the entire winter, what southern Utah is like, how you really can't say you live by Salt Lake City when you live north of Ogden, and why I was in London during the 2002 Olympics.
That's all she wrote. I didn't fall asleep until 1 am last night so I'm pretty tired. Tomorrow I'm venturing out of this hotel, and not just because I am leaving to catch a plane back to Utah.
Oh, Orange Ginger shampoo and conditioner by (Bath & Body Works) is divine.
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