Conferences, Expos and Shows

Those who are passionate about the things they do or involved with usually end up, sooner or later, going to a conference, expo or trade show. I’ve run through several over the years. These days I mostly go to Ag Expos and Horse Expos.

Years ago we would never miss a Home and Garden show, if for nothing else than to fill our nostrils with the smell of cedar bark. Nearly every booth has a raffle to sign up for, but when you do you can expect all sorts of phone solicitations to come your way over the next six months.

I’ve been to Rock, Gem and Jewelry shows. The great things about those are looking at the cool tools that other trades use. I’m always amazed by human inventiveness when it comes to making tools. There are cool tools at Flock and Fiber shows, too.

I’ve never been tempted to go to a Gun and Knife Show, simply because I’d want to kill everyone there.

Years ago I went to a Sci-Fi convention called Luna-Con. Talk about weird. There were folks in all sorts of costumes. They had rooms where there were banks of VCRs dubbing copies of movies that were bootlegged. I met Asimov, Rodenberry, Mark Rogers and the Brothers Hildebrand there. My favorite was Mike Jittlov. I have copies of his work before the Wizard of Speed and Time. Very cool stuff.

Anyway, after a couple years of attending a show or Expo you get the feeling like you’ve seen it all. My attention span is short, so I’m losing interest in the shows I attend these days unless I’m being paid to speak at them. It all makes me wonder what I’ll be interested in ten years from now. I could use something new right about now.