A Split Week

For the first time since we picked up the motorhome, we not only left it parked, but Ken and I actually spent the weekend and most of the next week apart.

I had an SAP convention in Atlanta to attend along with 16,000 other SAP users and consultants. ( www.asugannualconference.com )

This year was not an expensive trip since I agreed to speak at the conference which meant my $1600 fee was waived.

Here is a picture of the stage where I did a presentation jointly with Komatsu, SAP and Schumacher Elevator. We had a packed house with lots of people standing to listen as well. I also spent at least ½ hour afterward answering questions with various users who are considering using some of the same software functionality we currently have installed.

The Vendor Show floor was massive. I limited my time there since the vendors seemed to chase you down the aisles for your attention.

Most people reading this blog could care less about what I did at the conference during work hours so I’ll just mention some of the fun evening events.

SAP always makes sure the non-work hours at these events are top-notch.

Each evening there were events that always included great food and drink and opportunities to network with other SAP users.


Here’s our Quincy Gardner Denver gang, Mike Holm, Randy Miller and Mike O’Connell enjoying an outside reception. The food/drink theme was around Southern Hospitality with specialties like crab cakes, fried green tomotoes and sweet potato soufflé. In fact, I had my first mint julep…it will be my last…yuck, like drinking spearmint gum!!!

The John Mayer concert on Tuesday evening was in the arena where the Atlanta Hawks basketball team and Atlanta Trashers hockey teams play. All of the food and drink venues normally used for the games were open to us for free so we got plenty of pizza, nachos, burgers, popcorn, pretzels….you name it….along with considerable variety of mixed drinks.

We had great seats for the concert in the center on the first aisle of the balcony so our view was unobstructed and we didn’t have to climb over anyone to keep a steady stream of refreshment available.

I’ve been going to SAP conferences for 10 years now and I’m always amazed how they get the big names to come in to play for a bunch of computer geeks. They’ve had Stevie Wonder, Rod Stewart, Sheryl Crow and my personal favorite, AeroSmith, just to name a few. John Mayer (www.johnmayer.com) has his fair share of Grammy’s and a current billboard climber you may have heard called ‘Gravity’.


Unfortunately, the concert lighting made it impossible to capture any good photos. This was my best attempt of at least getting a picture of John Mayer on stage.

While I was in Atlanta, Ken took the opportunity to head over to Charleston to watch some of the Panther football spring practices and scrimmage.

Here’s the first picture we have of Trev in Panther blue.

As it turned out, Kevin Mahoney’s Dad, Dennis, came over at the same time as Ken. Kevin is the O-Lineman who transferred over with Trev from Bowling Green and shares a house with him now. The father/son foursome was able to spend some time together between practices and scrimmages. As you can see, Kevin, at about 6'8", 320lbs, can make even Trevor look little!

Ken also took the chance to check out the Fox Ridge State Park which is 10 miles south of Charleston. While it is not nearly so nice as Lithia Springs, its much closer and would probably be a good option for some football weekends.

The sites are pretty basic, but clean and nestled in the woods. There also appear to be some really nice walking paths.


Our Audi seemed a bit out of place in this environment!

Ken came down to pick me up from the airport on Wednesday and after a leisurely ride back up highway 79, I was headed back to work to finish out the week, while Ken started preparing for us to have another weekend out in the motorhome.

It’s amazing how quickly, especially after a week being herded around with 16,000 other conference attendees, I am longing to jump into the RV, with the hubby and the dogs and get away from it all!

Hope to be writing to you again soon from a comfy and quiet campsite!

Hugs, C