I'm going to come right out with a confession.. I'm guilty of poor time management this year. Or, maybe not, maybe what I'm guilty of is having too many passions and not enough clones of myself (read that zero) to participate in and manage them all. I'm the opposite of all those bored, fed up, disengaged, depressed and unmotivated people I come across on Facebook. Call it a blessing or a curse.. I'm not sure which.
All I know is in the few spare moments I have been afforded this month, in my mind I am Anne Bonnysailing the Caribbean, rapier and flintlock pistol at my sides.
Apparently, here in the northeast, conferences can't be in the hot summer months because attendance would be weak with people on vacation and all. They can't be in the first half of September - it's back to school time and helicopter parents would never be able to get their kiddos off to school, work and attend a conference. Clearly conferences cannot be later than the middle of November lest they conflict with end of year holidays, associated festivities and travel.
The first quarter of the year is practically out because the weather can be so iffy - the last thing you need is snowmageddon to throw a raving wrench into things. The spring is OK as long as you stay away from the floating holiday Easter - which of makes it impossible to have any consistency like 'XYZcon is the 3rd Friday of April each year". Watch out for end of school in June, parents are too busy figuring out summer daycare to pay attention to adult education at that time of year.
What does it all mean?
This year, for me it has meant concurrent planning of or participation in three important conferences in the first three weeks of October. Heaven forbid anyone impinge on the last and even think of Halloween week sacrilege.
I'm not really complaining of course...I'm just not leaving this bed all weekend as I plot and plan how to change next year's calendar of activity to be more balanced, and not an avalanche in October 2014.
Yes, I'm already thinking about next year. How about you?
The image of Anne Bonny is in the public domain.
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