Name Dropping at the NTC

So, I could shoot myself in the foot for forgetting to bring my digital camera for this trip. Before walking out the door, I distinctly remember hearing my wife say, “Don’t forget to take the camera; I put it with your stuff.” But what do I do? I forget within moments to grab the camera. What’s more is that I would’ve loved to have had my picture taken with a few people I’ve met while here. So, I’ll use this time to drop a few names of the more prominent (IMO) and, to me, fascinating figures I’ve met:

  • Mena Trott, co-founder and president of Six Apart – Mena did a great presentation on how NPOs can utilize blogs to connect with donors and volunteers. I was able to meet her and blabber my way through a stupid-sounding interview of very broad questions that left her asking, “Now what was it you wanted to know?” Why do I always do this? I need to go back to Interviewing 101.
  • Michael Palage, ICANN board member – I ended up sitting next to Mike in a session about Nonprofit Technology Policy; unbeknownst to me, he was a board member for ICANN—what a fascinating role! He’s been a member since the beginning, and we were able to have a good but short conversation after the session. He’s a great guy.
  • Henri Bergius, co-founder and spokesman of the Midgard Project – I met Henri in the hallway and had the gall to ask him why Midgard is so damn hard to install. He was very approachable and proceeded to discuss the application with me. Plus he’s from Finland; I wonder if he knows Linus?

In addition to these three folks, I want to give a special thanks to the guys from Chicago PHP for taking a night to hang out with me. Thanks Richard, Colin, Jim, and Scott; I had a great time. Look me up next time you find your way to Atlanta.

I took the train up to Wrigley Field and walked a few blocks from the stadium to the restaurant where I met everyone. Again, I could shoot myself in the foot for not having my camera. :-(