Monday, March 29, 2010

A Conference Opp

One Friday morning, the phone rang. A familiar but forgotten number showed up on the screen followed by a disfigured hello from the other side. Suddenly, my brain cells fired up. It was the advisor.

He brought an unusual inquiry granting I am not his student anymore. This could be a fodder for the PhD comics guy.

"Could you present this material for me? I couldn't be there for the conference. You are familiar with it and only a distance away. The slides are all set, the paper is done."

The registration fee for the meeting is pretty steep, so I carefully crafted an email to my manager. It didn't hurt to ask. The Advisor needs help. I want to attend this meeting and be among academia one more time. The company might get some beneficial return in the future. Everybody wins.

My manager is such a visionary angel. So, yes, I am going to be in San Francisco come April 8th. It is the first presentation of the session that morning. Wish me luck. I am slowly forgetting how it feels to present among this lot of people.

Monday, March 08, 2010