NetIP 2005 Conference: Day 1
Registration began at the Westin Peachtree in Downtown Atlanta at 3 PM, where attendees were given Home Depot jholas, name tags and bright orange arm tags. If the ID tags were lost, they would be replaced in exchange for 10 buffaloes, 5 sheep and selling your soul to Anu Malik for $400.
I wish the organizers had chosen a venue other than downtown – the nightlife in that area leaves a lot to be desired, not to mention safety and irritant issues (panhandlers, derelicts, muggers). Buckhead has enough hotels, shops, nightlife, and safety to be a better ambassador of Atlanta. Midtown would be even better, but there aren’t any good hotels here.
The Welcome Reception began at 8 PM, with a formal speech by the NetIP North America president, who seemed to be taking herself too seriously.
This was followed by a motivational lecture by Mr. Vijay Uncle, who delighted the audience with his platitudes and choked them with his emotional plea. An Assistant Professor of Surgery at Texas A&M, he was recruiting volunteers for Bone Marrow donation. His jokes were well received (“don’t worry, we won’t inform your parents about your blood alcohol level”), as was his message – about 120 people pledged to donate their marrow by giving a syringe-ful to Uncle-ji’s hilarious exhortions of “I need your blood!”. In the last 5 years, this was the highest level of donation from a NetIP event (typical numbers ranged from 10-20).
A fashion show from a pretty promising (pretty and promising, that is) Atlanta-based designer Nina Arora came next. She had a line of contemporary Indian-western wear, with very comfortable/wearable, clean and attractive designs. If the price was right, I could see myself buying her stuff for a significant other.
The final performance was a session of improv comedy by the Whole World Theatre group. I think they are the best Atlanta-based comedy group (much better than Dad’s Garage and Laughing Matters), so I was quite excited to show off our local talent. They even had a desi on their improve troupe! Sadly, a chunk of the audience (backbenchers, as we used to call them in school) were more interested in chatting with their newly-acquired friends than watching the show, so there was a constant distracting murmur throughout the performance. This affected the unscripted actors’ performance as well, but multiple entreaties for silence fell on oblivious ears. The show ended with bad tastes in many mouths.
At 10 PM, the venue shifted to America’s Mart, for an evening of dancing and drinking to Tigerstyle’s grooves. I stayed till midnight, and when the party had still not picked up, I took off to sleep in my own sweet bed for the night. As a consultant, one cherishes any time one gets to spend at home!
I wish the organizers had chosen a venue other than downtown – the nightlife in that area leaves a lot to be desired, not to mention safety and irritant issues (panhandlers, derelicts, muggers). Buckhead has enough hotels, shops, nightlife, and safety to be a better ambassador of Atlanta. Midtown would be even better, but there aren’t any good hotels here.
The Welcome Reception began at 8 PM, with a formal speech by the NetIP North America president, who seemed to be taking herself too seriously.
A fashion show from a pretty promising (pretty and promising, that is) Atlanta-based designer Nina Arora came next. She had a line of contemporary Indian-western wear, with very comfortable/wearable, clean and attractive designs. If the price was right, I could see myself buying her stuff for a significant other.
The final performance was a session of improv comedy by the Whole World Theatre group. I think they are the best Atlanta-based comedy group (much better than Dad’s Garage and Laughing Matters), so I was quite excited to show off our local talent. They even had a desi on their improve troupe! Sadly, a chunk of the audience (backbenchers, as we used to call them in school) were more interested in chatting with their newly-acquired friends than watching the show, so there was a constant distracting murmur throughout the performance. This affected the unscripted actors’ performance as well, but multiple entreaties for silence fell on oblivious ears. The show ended with bad tastes in many mouths.
At 10 PM, the venue shifted to America’s Mart, for an evening of dancing and drinking to Tigerstyle’s grooves. I stayed till midnight, and when the party had still not picked up, I took off to sleep in my own sweet bed for the night. As a consultant, one cherishes any time one gets to spend at home!
