Anatomy of a conference day in Rome

Let’s focus on that day

1) Wake up in the morning, raining in vistarino

2) Reached Pavia station went to the automatic ticket machine to take the train  I discover it does not work, ok no prob I queued at the ticket store

3) Took the train in perfect time, so this sis not such a bad day after all…

4) The train is arriving late, damn will I take the coincidence? Of course not! lost for 1 minute (I saw it leaving) 🙁 bye bye Italo, by by first class

5) OK nothing is lost, I look for another ticket counter and I ask if I can change it. Of course they explain me that I could have changed it before train leave, alas not now, so I have had to buy another one, sigh I have took an offer for first class and now I pay the same amount for a economy

6) The lady tells me I have to run and make the ticket directly on the train, even if I have to pay a penalty

7) After 3 hours where nothing happen I finally arrive to Rome tiburtina station. my first time here. Weather is sunny, Rome is beautiful, the station New and clean… now I need a Cab. now you have to notice that in Italy is quite unusual to find a cab that accept credit or debit cards, they want cash and, of course, I have only a few coin. but don’t worry I will go to an ATM machine but…. There aren’t ATM machines at tiburtina station. Of course I discover it after looking, and asking, everywhere.

8) finally I decide to talk with a taxi driver (not the movie one), and we agreed he will bring me to an ATM machine so I can get the cash and Then bring me to the final destination.

9) The Taxi driver kindly drive me to the ATM machine, queue again…dam I took an old quite blind lady that needed a lifetime to do her operation, and then a young lady with a thousand of operation to do, so after half an hour finally i get the money, turn back to taxi.

10) I arrived to Rome University and look for the place, I manage to arrive without loosing my way, the place is nice, I also find some people I know or I met some of my LinkedIn contact I never met great…

The conference itself is very interesting and the speeches are high level, I also enjoyed the catering (Rome is Rome and (ISC)2 organization is outstanding).

and then…my turn

11) I start the presentation (an extract of my webminar on mobility for (ISC)2 italian chapter) and at the second slide, when I say that most of the IT policy on mobile have been incomplete and I take as an example protection screens for laptop, one of the attendee stop me telling that what I say is absurd not real, out of the world, and that I’m insulting all the managers, ceo, VP and so on….

I try to calm down the guy, but as a matter of fact he blocked me again at the second statement, at the end any word coming form me was used for complains by the guy. I honestly didn’t know what hurted him so much, at the end I were telling things that are quite easy to find in literature and, by the way, I have experienced in more than 20 years of IT consulting. but at the end, to make a long story short, he complains against me all the presentation keeping quite all the time  and forcing me to make an incomplete speech because of time restriction.

I have had, to ask the attendees if i could go on or, if they agreed with the guy, i could have stopped the presentation. they told me to go on so I managed somehow to finish.

12) my via crucis finally end, and it’s another break time. come on most of the attendees comes to me asking why the guy was so mad with me… I don’t know I don’t even know him…. 🙁 probably he did not liked my rings ….

13) finally the panel, I’m again there… planning to keep it quiet this time. in a panel usually should be a discussion between the panellist and the attendees but my guy star talking again and took quite all the time, well he was having a lot of thing to say (and, funny, some of the tings are the same he complains when i told them in my speech) but now the goal is surviving the end so i keep quiet 🙂 lesson learned…

13) ok time to go home, guess what it’s 4:30 pm and start raining cats and dogs

14) I wait with some attendees, meanwhile eat the rest of the great catering, there is also beer and sparkling wine….

15) It’s going late, so we decided to go anyway, I went to the reception and ask for a cab, with the usal hald an hour time before having an answer (go to Rome to understand).

16) Cab sweet cab, it arrives and brings me to the station, but i have to wait another hour for my train so I wait in the wait area for italo passengers (Italo is the name of the train by the way).

17) it is not raining anymore, just a few drops so the weather is…how and with a 100% of humidity and no air conditioned rooms

18) finally it’s time, now everything is perfect i took my seat, the service is outstanding I also have the television so the run back to milano rogoredo station is quick and pleasant, I can even watch a movie ….

19) night now, and I have to wait for the local train that will bring me to pavia where my lovely wife will take me home.

another hour waiting, and the mosquitoes attack! Never saw so many mosquitoes in my life, I surrender and keep scratching walking changing places aaarghhh I surrender.

finally the train and then car and then home

I survived

so at the end not so bad…

PS at the end I’ve got a B as a score, but honestly is not so bad considering the situation…just i never took such a low grade . 🙁

PSS: does anyone knows the conference guy and why he hates me so much?

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• (ISC) 2 conference in Rome (thepuchiherald.wordpress.com)