Lawson Conference 2006

I had never attended a work conference for over 4,000 people before. The majority of the conference was at the Marriott, and the rest at the Caribe Royale. They had buses to shuttle us back and forth. Lawson did a fantastic job of organizing the event. The hired an additional outside firm to help with it. There were over 300 sessions available, and a lot of hands on lab training as well. I met people from all over the U.S. Monday, I went to breakfast and ended up sitting down next to a guy from Des Moines. We didn't know there was another company in town using Lawson.

Sunday night they had a Welcome Reception. The reception and our breakfast and lunch were all served out by the pool. I felt bad for the other guests, because they weren't able to use the huge pool. However, there was another pool on the west side of the resort still available. The main pool was beautiful and huge. It had a waterfall and beautiful landscaping. Eric was able to go with me Sunday night. We met up with my three other co-workers. They had a bunch of stations set up with different food. They had Mexican, Chinese, Italian, roast beef, turkey and dessert. They also had all the beer and wine you wanted to drink. We all enjoyed ourselves.

Monday I had opening sessions at 8am and then breakout sessions until 5pm. I called to check on the boys at noon. They were doing great. Chase was at the beach with my mom and aunt. Anthony was eating, sleeping and drinking 6-8oz. of formula a feeding. I know he was not getting that much from me, but I continued to diligently pump 6 times a day, to keep my supply up. Eric went exploring Orlando and shopping for a tattoo parlor. After going to several, he finally found one that wasn't charging ourlandish prices and could get him in that afternoon. So two and half hours later, he had a woodpecker with a cigar hanging out of his beak with two racing flags on this calf. It is the trademark for Mr. Horsepower, a logo from the 60's. Eric got back to the hotel around 6:30pm. We then went to T.G.I. Friday's Sportsbar for dinner. I had a delicious veggie burger. I couldn't talk Eric into trying one! After that we went shopping. Eric needed a new pair of hightops, and I needed new sandals.

Tuesday I had opening sessions at 8am again, and then breakout sessions until 4pm. Tuesday night I the special event. At 6:30pm we boarded buses that took us 20 miles south of Orlando to Fantasy of Flight. The airfield has a bunch of old airplanes to look at. There was also a flight simulator to try, but the line was too long. They catered in a good ole' fashioned BBQ for us. After dinner, comedian Frank Caliendo was on stage for an hour. He had us rolling, and he didn't even swear! After that Chicago took the stage and played for 90 minutes. During this time we could have all the free beer we wanted, and a bus ride back to the hotel when it was over. Chicago was excellent. They had a trumpet, trombone and sax player. They did three of their new songs and then the rest were old. The wind died down around 8pm, and it was a beautiful night for an outdoor concert.

Wednesday morning I only signed up for two sessions, so I was back at the Marriott by 11:15am. We checked out and headed back to Spring Hill. I really missed the boys and was looking forward to seeing them. It was fun getting paid for a conference that didn't seem like work.