I’ve been in Austin, Texas since Wednesday attending the TEC SIG fall meeting. TEC SIG is a state-wide group of tech nerds who work in the education field and we get together a few times a year to network and exchange ideas. Last night at a dinner hosted by Learning.com (thanks for the free food, Learning.com) someone asked me if I’d learned a lot yesterday. I responded with, “I learn a lot every day, whether I’m taught anything or not.”
So, I thought I’d take a moment to list some of the things I’ve learned over the last couple of days.
Hotel food is expensive:
Now this is not exactly a startling revelation, but yesterday during the course of one of the meetings I learned just how expensive these meetings are to pull off. For breakfast yesterday the hotel provide a smattering of pastries and fruit. Nothing special. Nothing really worth noting, except that we were told it cost the organizers of the meeting $19 a person.
For lunch was your typical rubber chicken meal- chicken with pasta, a salad, and a dessert. Again, largely unremarkable food…..except that it costs $39 per person. Wow.
Geeks like to party.
After a day of sessions and seminars and learning and teaching, the bars on 6th Street saw a mid-week boost in business as many of those who were here this week went out and enjoyed Austin night life, and this is nothing new. Any time you have a convention, or meeting where a large number of geeks gather, there will be much alcohol consumed and foolishness will abound. Maybe it’s because we live such restricted lives most of the time, or maybe it’s because we’re not exactly known as social butterflies the other 360 or so days a year….whatever the reason, geeks like to party.
Menus lie.
The menu at the Broken Spoke says they have the best chicken fried steak in all of Austin. It’s a lie.
I still don’t like country music.
No explanation needed.
Learning is critical.
There’s an old adage that says something like, “Learning is like rowing upstream. To not advance is to fall back.” and I’ve seen that in practice this week. In any walk of life, but especially in the field of technology, the stream of knowledge is constantly trying to push you back.
There’s so much to be learned and it’s growing every day. In life, we must advance to simply maintain and we must advance doubly to move forward.
Learn even if you’re not taught.
I attended a couple of events this week where no new information was provided by the presenter. I could have left saying, “Well, that was a waste of time.” but instead I chose to watch and listen and learn from those around me. You don’t have to be taught to learn. You can simply pay attention.
Look. Listen. Learn. Row upstream.
My advancement in the stream of life is up to me. No one is going to row for me. Sometimes it’s really hard work, but I refuse to be left behind.
Sometimes you have to go out looking for learning. Sometimes you have to dig deep for the nugget of truth that lay under a mountain of rubbish. If you’re lucky, a really dynamic presenter will blow your mind with profundity, but frankly that’s rare. You are responsible for your own learning- your own advancement in the stream of life.
Get to rowing.
Amen. Particularly in regard to the comments on learning.