You Just Never Know ...

It's so important to pay attention ... you never know when you might notice something important, or meet a fascinating new friend. I've had opportunities in the past two weeks to do both.

I've been busy with the International Sweet Adeline convention and competition in Vegas and am posting tonight from Scottsdale, AZ where I delivered 4 breakout sessions for the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association's Executive and Administrative Assistants Conference.

I've had a great 10 days, beginning with my flight out on Monday, October 9. My first flight was Fargo to Denver. A very sharp-dressed gentleman sat down next to me on that flight and we had a great chat.

It wasn't until we got to the career portion of our conversation that I realized my seatmate was the keynote speaker at the annual Upper Great Plains Technology Conference, Vinton Cerf. Mr. Cerf is Chief Internet Evangelist at Google, and is one of the founding fathers of THE INTERNET! How funny it was, in thinking back, to ask him what he did and hear him say, almost nonchalantly, "Oh, I invented the Internet!" OK, so now we had lots to talk about! He told me before too many others knew about Google's purchase of YouTube, and also told me all about his experience working on the Internet, teaching at Stanford, joining Google, and even about his family and travel experiences (and I couldn't resist asking him if Al Gore really was involved in the invention of the Internet. He confirmed Al's claim.). You can read more about Mr. Cerf from the Upper Great Plains Technology Conference website.

I'll tell you more about my travels and experiences over the next few days, so watch for updates.

And, in the meantime, notice what you notice. You just never know who you might meet or what you might learn!