Catching up.... Conference Antidokes
Off to a rocky start: I arrive in to the hotel on Sunday around 5pm, a few hours later than planned because of travel-related nonsense - so much for lounging at the pool. What was I thinking? The Welcome Reception, which is an ideal time for exec-schmoozing starts at 5:30pm, so I don't have much time to settle in or relax. I'm in my room for less than 5min before Guest Services call. The nice woman informs me that housekeeping had made a note that there "might" be a problem with my toilet and she asks if I would please flush the toilet and tell her what happens - after some hesitation on my part, I flush - low and hold, the toilet floods all over the place. She informs me that she'll send up Engineering. Less than a minute later there is a knock on my door. I tell the guy that the toilet is overflowing and he responds, "Didn't Guest Services call you to warn you NOT to flush the toilet?". Um no, the exact opposite. So, by the time he does his thing and housekeeping comes back, its already 5:30pm. Didn't end up being a big deal, since those receptions don't get rolling right away. Funny little antidoke to share during conversation lulls.
Infrastructure Icebreaker: The next day, my boss is on a panel about what Wall Street views on the topic of Utilities investing in our Infrastructure. She shares WITH EVERYONE how my toilet overflowed as an example of infrasturture maintenance has really hit home. Rolled with the punches on that and was able to jokingly tell new people I met that I was the person who's toilet overflowed.....
A Surprise Visitor: At 4:20am on Monday morning there is loud knocking coming from the hallway. At first I think it is coming from a different door, but realize after continued banging, that it is indeed my door. I open it a crack (had that bolt thing on) and there is a dishelved, disoriented fella in his mid twenties standing outside. I ask him what on earth he wants and he replies "I just came back because I left my watch". I am thoroughly puzzled and thinking he doesn't pose a great risk, undue to bolt and open the door 6 inches (probably not the smartest move). He repeats what he says again. I give him a "you must be kidding look" and tell him he must have the wrong room. He's still convinced that I have his watch! I finally had to say "Dude, you weren't with me" and he finally leaves... looks like this guy had himself a one-night stand and left his watch behind. Pretty funny that even after I opened the door and he got a better look at me (for lack of a better expression) he didn't know that I wasn't his lady-friend.
Finding the Silver Lining: The panel my boss was on also had a young Analyst on it that used to work at our firm as an Associate on another Industry team, who left the firm about a year ago to become an Analyst following our sector. It annoys me to no end that this guy (and a similar {my company} Associate turned Analyst that also follows our sector now) talk as if they konw what they are talking about when they haven't been followed these stocks for more than a 1.5years and distract our clients and company management teams with the garbage they consider research (wow, am I caddy, or what???) So, in response to a question, this Analyst says something that is completely off-base and not on-point at all given this audience, and if taken to heart, vocalization of this opinion could actually hurt the companies we follow (long boring investment thing I'm trying not to go in to but isn't easy to gloss over). I wanted to scream out how off base he was, and I saw my boss, up on stage, trying to rebuke his comments, but not getting a chance to speak. At first, I was pissed that he was negatively impacting our companies. There was much hub-bub at the conference with management teams we spoke with afterwards about how off-base this yo-yo was.... So, silver-lining, this young dude completely shot himself in the foot and has helped reinforce that my boss and I really are the most knowledgeable Analysts covering this sector.
Added Benefit: This report I have been slaving away on is an Industry Primer. Its completely coincidental that it is being published a week after this conference. We have injected comments into our report rebuking this num-nuts thoughts --- we're looking pretty good.
Sinkhole in La Jolla: The morning I left La Jolla, it was reported on the news that a huge sinkhole happened in the area and some houses were evacuated - turns out this was only a few miles from where I was saying.
CA, um no: Can't say I am a big fan of South CA. So much dessert. And smog. I was driving from the conference to a company's headquarters in the outskirts of LA. I went around a bend in the highway and the air went from crisp and clear to fog filled. I couldn't believe it. To be fair, I was also in San Jose, and that part of the state I found to be lovely....
Freakishly Tired. My schedule while I was away was absolutely nutty. I was getting up at 7:30am EST (4:45 PST) in time to read the news on my stocks ahead of our company's morning meeting and to get some work in before my hectic day started. The days were filled with management breakfasts, meetings, and lunches, and when I could, attending the conferece -- conference is secondary for us, we are there to schmooze the managements attending the conference. Then, I usually had about an hour before dinner to touch base with my Associate and make sure I was handling work-stuff that I had ignored during the day. Evenings were spent at company dinners and then a drink or two at the bar. Didn't want to do that last part, but you learn a whole lot more during the informal times -- especially from drunk execs (WOW!). So, I was rolling in to bed between 10:30-11pm each night..... three days in a row! The fourth day, I was on a 7:30am plane to San Jose, so I was up early again as well..... EXHAUSTED. Didn't have time to watch 15min of TV, or even read the news, let alone squeeze in 2 hours/day of exam studying.
