This Is the AUTM of My Discontent

Because it's never winter in Florida in the first place, right?

I'm sure AUTM is a great conference for those people who actually are University Technology Managers, but it hasn't been great for this particular bookish Marketing Manager, who's been trying to get them to buy his wares.

On the positive side, I am in Orlando, and the weather is nice. I did manage to sneak off to a theme park once. But it's taken three days out of my working life to spend (not terribly long, which is its own problem) hours in a booth deep inside a convention center, and I've been left to hope that all of the people who took our booklist will go back to their respective universities and firms, get permission to buy some books, and all hit the Wiley website next week. It's not a very strong hope, in this economy.

Otherwise, it's been a trip full of petty annoyances, from coming back to my room yesterday evening to find my desk chair missing (it had been rickety before, but rickety is better than absent) to finally calling the hotel to get my leaky tub spigot fixed this evening. (And don't get me started on how you need a taxi to get anywhere in Orlando. The next time I'm here, for anything, I'm renting a car.)

The exhibit hall for AUTM was open a very short time -- 9-12 and 1-5 yesterday; 9:30-12 and 2-5 today -- which my lazy side enjoyed, but may have contributed to the dearth of sales. Or maybe longer hours and an opening reception on Wednesday night -- which a lot of similar conventions/conferences/annual meetings have in the exhibit halls on the opening day, because it works -- would have helped out. In any case, I was in the hall long enough to feel tired but short enough to feel lazy, which is a rotten combination.

So: I'm sure this is a perfectly lovely and useful annual meeting for the folks having it, but it's been more of an excuse to be stuck in central Florida for this New Jersey boy. And I wish I was flying out tonight, like my colleague did. Oh well, at least it's a three-day weekend on the other side of that flight.