August 5, 2016
Dear Everyone:
Last week at this time I was in
Reno, Nevada, attending the annual
ARMA*
Regional Leadership Conference (RLC).
While it has less to do with Records and Information Management
(RIM) than it does with promoting Leadership Skills, I learned many
things this time around.
For instance, I learned that the average 3-hour drive from the
Bay Area
to Reno takes about 4-½ hours.
On the return trip Saturday afternoon, I learned that the
opposite is also true. This
doesn’t include the time spent driving around in circles, looking for
the hotel once I got to Reno.
I had the usual computer-application-provided directions; but
this was complicated by the fact that the sign, proclaiming the hotel
name, was only visible from at least two blocks away.
Once I figured that out, I learned that the actual entrance was
(naturally) on a different street than the address in a classic
you-can’t-get-there-from-here situation.
When I checked in, I learned that the hotel, which boasted that it was a
non-smoking, non-gambling establishment, had a “rock-climbing wall” just
down the hall. More
importantly, I discovered that my room included a small refrigerator,
which meant I could leave the cooler in the car.
I happily unpacked while watching
Hillary Clinton accept the
Democratic Nomination for
President of the United States of America.
On Friday morning, the first full day of the RLC, I took the elevator to
the second floor, since most hotel meeting rooms tend to be located
there. When the elevator
door opened, I beheld the “famous” rock-climbing wall.
One whole part of the second floor was devoted to a huge mass of
fake rock, surrounded by soft floor padding, and festooned with
brightly-colored plastic hand-holds.
It occurred to me that, had our parents taken the seven of us
kids to a hotel with such a feature, we would have been all over it in
seconds.
Seven kids, all trying to get to the top of the “mountain” ahead of the
others, each one wanting to be first to reach the top and touch the
ceiling, while aggressively pushing and knocking the competition away.
Not unlike the current political situation.
Did I mention Hillary Clinton?
I got back on the elevator and tried the third floor where I
successfully found the meeting rooms assigned to the RLC.
What followed was the usual speechifying by representatives from
ARMA International and the usual game of changing seats.
This is not the same as “musical chairs”.
In that game, there is always one less chair than players.
In this game, players are told to change tables to gather in
somewhat random groups to discuss one important topic or another, then
report back to the room at large.
I’ve played this game before.
This time, I was prepared.
I had brought my new 2-in-1
laptop/tablet,
Petruchio, with me.
As various people from different Chapters told us what had worked
for them in the past, I typed it all into a document.
When it came time for someone to report back to the room, I
simply pulled the tablet/monitor piece off (it’s held in place with
strong magnets) and handed it to her.
While she read the notes out loud, I heard a couple of people
murmur: “Hey! I want one of
those.”
Each year, during the one full evening of the RLC, they try to find some
kind of “social event” to encourage people to bond with members from
other Chapters. This year,
they got tickets to a local
baseball game.
Having Petruchio with me meant that I could also use it in my room, for
checking email and other things.
On Friday evening, while others were sweltering in triple-digit
heat and possibly eating hot dogs, I sat comfortably in my
air-conditioned hotel room, playing
Solitaire,
Mahjong, and assembling
digital jigsaw puzzles.
Yes, I know, I should have been socializing at the game.
I found out the next day that a great many people bailed out
because of the heat; so there wouldn’t have been that many to socialize
with. And I remember many,
many years ago, when “Richard” very wisely told me: “You reach an age
when you realize that it’s OK to say, ‘No, thank you’.”
Wise words indeed.
Love, as always,
Pete
*ARMA = Association of Records Managers and Administrators
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