October 22, 1993
Dear Everyone:
Well, the 38th Annual Conference of
ARMA International is
over. Even though they called it
a "Conference", you and I know that it was a "Convention".
Conventions are a lot like your first year in college:
Study all day; party all night.
(No
wonder they're so popular!)
The Bad News is: You were a lot
younger back then. You could stay
up all night and still go to class the next day.
The Good News is: This time
there's no Final Exam. Unless you
count life as the Ultimate Pop Quiz.
More Good News: You don't need to
bribe your roommate into covering your 8:00 am
History of Western Civilization
because it's just too early to get up for.
None of the classes (called
"sessions" here) started before 8:45. No
facing Nazeer El-Azma’s Standard
Intermediate Arabic at 7:00 M-W-F (Mondays, Wednesdays & Fridays),
either.
And
there's no need to go out and buy Cliff Notes®!
Because the first thing they do
when you register is give you
a copy of
THE PROCEEDINGS. The
Proceedings are approximately 2½ pounds of solid (very solid) information. They
are the basis, and often the actual text, of
all the sessions, including the ones you would have liked to take,
but couldn't because they were at the same time as something else, or
because they were sold out.
You got The Proceedings, plus a lot of other information and a
calculator shaped like a book of matches, in a nice canvas bag, provided
by one of the vendors. The Bag
used to be vinyl, but canvas is more environmentally correct these days.
Lasts longer, too.
Even though I didn't get all the sessions I signed up for, or all of my
first choices, I still managed to wolf down eight courses (when I wasn't
hip-deep in vendor exhibits), including such treasures as
Evaluating and Selecting
Automated Information and Records Management Technologies and
Legality of Optical Storage (a
hot item these days). I also got
to hear the legendary
Donald Skupsky speak.
I know you've never heard of him,
but trust me: in Records
Management circles, he is a legend. Think
of him as the Joe Montana of Legal Requirements for Records Retention.
Of course, it wasn't all hard work. “Jeannie”
came with me and we managed to get in some sightseeing while we were
there. We went to see
Pioneer
Square, so-called because it's as good a name as any and they were
anxious to get it declared an
Historical Site before the developers
could turn it into parking lots.
Pioneer Square was originally built on fill from the city's biggest
sawmill, not the best choice in the world, as it soon gave rise (or
fall, as the case may be) to sagging buildings and carriage-eating
potholes the size of small lakes. All
of this was destroyed in the Great Fire of 18-Whatever, after which the
area was re-built anywhere from two to 32 feet above the original level.
Since some parts weren't built up
as fast as others, the lower sections became the legendary
Underground
City of Seattle.
The main reason for building higher was the sewer system, such as it
was, which emptied into the ocean. This
worked fine when the tide was out, not so well when the tide came back
in, thus giving rise to a phenomenal number of jokes about people being
regulated by the moon, etc. Seattle
has a good shot at becoming the Toilet Joke Capital of the world; but,
since they’re historical jokes, it's OK--like nudity on
PBS.
Other attractions: While trying
to find the Underground Tour, we got (temporarily) lost and discovered
Seattle's scenic Correction Facility. We
also visited Pike Place Market, originally an open air fish and fresh
produce market, well on its way to becoming a
Ghirardelli Square of the
North.
Weather: in a word, wonderful.
Delightfully cool with no rain in sight.
Of course, the Seattle-ites
thought it was unseasonably warm. The
"heat wave" (high 60s) was the lead story on the newscast.
(In Seattle, more than seven days
without rain is considered a drought.)
While I was in sessions, “Jeannie” also visited her friend Dee in
Snohomish Falls. She also went to
(I have no idea how this is spelled) "Snoqualome Falls”.
S. Falls was used for some of the outdoor scenes in the TV Series
Twin Peaks.
It's quite picturesque, with a
steep path leading a half-mile down to the base of the falls, whereupon
“Jeannie” discovered that she'd left her camera in the car.
She climbed back up (a half-mile
going down, a full mile going up, because of all the switch-backs), got
the camera, considered going back down to take some breathtaking
pictures…and decided to buy postcards instead.
Love, as always,
Pete
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