Report from the Land of Certified Valuation Analysts

Yesterday I was in the exhibit hall at the ungodly hour of 6:15 AM -- when it was supposed to open -- only to find it already populated by accountants, some of whom (my colleague told me) had been there when he arrived at 5:55. I know not what breed of creature these strange "CVAs" are, but I am sure that they are not men.

Business in the hall ebbed and flowed with the rhythm of sessions and breaks, as always, and we'd made an encouraging amount of sales when we closed up at 6:45 PM. (I was in that hall, more-or-less continuously, for over twelve hours. When I wasn't selling books or rearranging books, I was mostly catching up on e-mail.) Then we went out to dinner, so I got back to my hotel room at about 9:30.

Today was pretty much the same, except the hall didn't officially open until the princely hour of 7:00. I was there five or ten minutes early to find it already full of CVAs eating breakfast. Again, sales were encouraging; we have a shot at beating last year's meeting.

Tomorrow I've got another 7:00 start, though the hall supposedly closes at 4:00. (Nobody's been pushing people out the door so far, though, so it might not happen that way.) Then we get to pack up everything, mark it for shipping via two different carriers, and bug out. (And that, for me, means driving straight home so I can get to BEA Saturday.)

I hope to do nothing more strenuous than spreading cream cheese on a bagel on Sunday. If I feel really ambitious, I may drag the family out to see Up. But maybe not.