I've been "out of town" here in Cincinnati since Monday morning for a business conference. Long days... 7:30am until 9:30pm... there has been much stress... there have been tons of arguments... I honestly wouldn't be surprised to see a fight... and I've thoroughly enjoyed myself. I oftentimes don't feel valuable at work. I don't see myself as a difference-maker... I don't see myself as someone whose opinion matters... I don't see myself as an important member of the team.
Apparently those above me do. That's a big reason why this conference has been quality. It has been stressed over and over again that only the top 40 people in the company from around the world were invited to this. It's a very expensive event for the company to put on, and they were only bringing the best. I'm the youngest employee there... and yet, in these sessions, I don't feel young.
My company has a global presence. Cincinnati is home base, we have a large operation in Europe, and a fast-growing Asian group. It has been freaking AWESOME to hear all the different accents over the last couple days! The Australian guy is probably my favorite, but the Dutch guy and the German guys and the Chinese guys all rock, too. It's always nice to be able to put a face with the names that I know from the last 4 years of emailing.
This is my first big conference... but apparently there was some good smack talking between the China business manager and the German quality control guy about who is the better pingpong player. Naturally, my boss's boss decided the only fair way to decide the war on words was to buy a table and have it at the conference! We had the Global Ping Pong Tournament tonight, and most of the bets were placed on the Chinese business manager. But I kicked his butt in the first round, so that took care of the favorite. I ended up losing in the finals to the German quality control guy. I was up on him 11-9, but then I imploded. It's a shame, too, as I really wanted to beat him in retaliation for his country's bombing of Pearl Harbor.
3 comments:
I've known that Germany was better for about 15 years now. They wouldn't have won 2 world wars if they weren't better. Welcome to the club.
glad to hear you're getting some work done.
Deutsch ist PRIMA!
Deutsch is toll
Deutsch ist eins im Cultur Bowl
so scotty, are you gonna watch Balls Of Steel with us?
Japan bombed pearl harbor, just in case you forgot
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