Thank
you to my wonderful beautiful wife who spearheaded this trip. I had
such a great time. It was geared for executive networking, but was
inspirational none the less. It was good to see the business side of
everything. Nearly every booth wanted my business card and asked me
what I or my company did. At first I was embarrased, but then after a
few booths I began to enjoy telling them I did customer service for a
webhosting company. It was worth the look on their faces heheh. I am
a student I would finally say which invited questions about my major,
goals etc. Sometimes it evoked questions of why I was there. I wanted
to see what is out there. Surely that makes sense.
It was
overwhelming. There were more than 1500 companies represented. They
were organized by state and country and upon entering the exhibit hall
I was greeted by Thailand. Each region had its own carpeting, hanging
signs and/or works of art. It felt like I was transported to the
represented state or country every time I entered a different set of
booths. A lady representative of the leading Thailand bioresearch park
enthusiastically asked if I was with a company. I guess I must have
looked a little bit lost... because I was heheh. I quicky replied
"no", which elicited a guilty blank stare and finally she said "well
you can have a bag anyway". "Thank you" lol, I didn't even want the
bag. Its very pretty though. I bet Ardis will love it.
So I
decided I would just hit regions that both Ardis and I are willing to
relocate to (distant distant future). I spent an entire hour in
Maryland alone! At this rate I wouldn't get to see more than a small
fraction of what is out there! During this hour I encountered an
apparently key biotech focus, "small molecules". I had never
encountered this focus phrase in literature or otherwise, but here it
was thrown around like it was everyday language. By the third time a
booth explained that their company worked with small molecules I very
seriously replied "You must need to sell a lot of those to make any
profit"...pause... laughter. I tried this a couple of times more with
great success - heheh I kill me.
So I finally make it to the
Oklahoma Chamber of Commerce and to my welcomed surprise, there were 70
people there representing Oklahoma. They were not there all at once
and most were abroad networking, but it wasn't at all what I had
expected. The companies were not registered individually so it
appeared there would only be one booth. Wrong. I ended up talking
with a Daily Oklahoman Journalist who repeatedly informed me that I
would be his story! Everyone
was shocked - impressed or dumbfounded that a student would take it
upon himself to attend the exhibits of a biotech conference (geared for
execs heheh). I
am nearly positive I will hate whatever is published if I am quoted at
all. I can't stand knowing that my every word could be in public print
as the words come from my mouth. I think the first thing I told him was
about my nervousness toward being in print. I guess we'll see if it
will actually be in his biotech coverage anywhere at all. The
journalist (where do all the names go... wheeeee) did introduce me to a
few different people and had my picture taken with Dr Cupiek? (think it
is pronounced coopick) so hopefully it will just be a "student attends
biotech convention" with the included photo and no actual quoted
responses. And yes, bonus! Yes Dr Cupiek was very interested in having
me do some work for him. Score! He also seemed to recognize me from
somewhere and I him...
Another booth worthy of mention. On my
way to different companies I was compelled to stop at a booth in
Japan. They had a live video display of the blood cells circulating
through the capillaries in the tips of someones finger. I just had to
sit down and try it! The guy didn't speak english well and so was not
able to explain it to me, but he added some clear gel to my finger
which presumably allowed this highly specialized microscope to see
through the surface of my skin and into my capillaries! I could see
individual blood cells pumping through! So there were these printed
images of normal capillaries versus "burden on the heart" and many more
and I laughingly commented that I am probably going to be diagnosed
with some problem. I was!!! The guy told me I have "thick blood"!
Thick Blood?!? wtf is that?!? ..long pause.. "Well.. is that bad or
good?!?" "Its Bad" long freaking pause. I mean what the hell lol.
"Well, what do I do?!?" (still shocked). "Change lifestyle.
Excercise. Eat lots of nutrition. Everyday. Drink more water.
Sweat. Everyday. Sweat. Excersize. This predisease - not disease.
Change lifestyle. Not disease". LOL ahh the Japanese... so an
executive chap from some European country was coming in just as I was
being diagnosed and I quickly explained to him what the machine was
doing and what my prognosis was. "You're next," I say to him, "Sit down.
Let's see what you've got". He was happy to sit down and only ever so
slightly appearing to have some anxiety about the diagnosis, but
certainly he had a good humor about it. He had a bad diagnosis too!
lol. I cant remember what it was, but the Japanese rep immediately
went into "Not disease. Predisease. Change lifestyle..." Gotta love
the tact.
So yeah... I am going to really start excerising when
I get back. I had already planned on it, but that really put the nail
in the coffin. Heheh again I kill me.
So, many, many booth
goodies later, many, many, converstions with different biotech firms,
startup law firms, and intellectual property rights law firms, a
smoothie from a "green kitchen" with hemp countertops, and too many
commas in one sentence later, the day closes with complimentary food
stuffs, drinks, and live music. Most notably music from Ireland
(gaelic?) with free Guiness, dueting flamenco guitars, and a really top
notch band from Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico had a wide variety of Rum.
That was it. I would henceforth be planted in Puerto Rico with repeat
visits to the Rum Bar. It was fantastic. Couples started latin
dancing and I recognized some of the moves Ardis and I have been
working on. Awww I wished she were there. But it was so much fun just
watching and talking to people nearby.
I had entered many
different drawing contests for various prizes (one was a 2 yr lease to
a truck) after scanning my badge and/or completing surveys, but I
hadn't realized you had to be there at closing to claim your prize or
it would go to the next person drawn. I had not entered the Puerto
Rico drawing nor did I know what it was for. They started the drawing.
9 business cards later they were still trying to draw a winner who was
present. I didnt have a business card so I ran up to the stage and
dropped Ardis's card in the bowl. The guy didnt even notice and drew
her card LOL! I ran up to claim my prize and the other band members
laughingly excalimed "he just dropped that card in there. Didn't you
see him?!?" laughter from band and crowd while I implored jokingly "oh
c'mon!" LOL, again, I kill me.

