Michael Dame from Virginia Tech

It turns out that today is the 6-month anniversary of the tragedy where 32 were lost and dozens of others were injured.

The presentation was one of the most inspiring talks that I have ever been to. Michael is a great speakers and did simply amazing work during the aftermath of the crisis. It would have been worth coming to Rochester, just to hear this.

During the day of the shooting, they had an incredible rise in the amount of traffic due to the media frenzy. Luckily, they had a lightweight version of the homepage ready. Without it, and the help from IT adding extra servers, the entire site would have gone down. By the end of the day they would need 3-servers just to keep the homepage up. By the end of the day, over 430GB of data would be requested (around 15GB is average for the entire site). Would our infrastructure hold?

On top of all this, his team did great work to make sure the information they posted was clear, accurate and compassionate.

• By 2pm the next day they launched a new page that addressed the crisis.
• Multimedia was important for those that could not be there for press events, candlelight vigils and memorials.
• The students and families needs were always put first in all decisions.
• All words were chosen very carefully.

On a completely different note:

Next years conference will be at Missouri State, where Piper, er.. Chad and the rest of his great team work. It will be moved up to October 5th-8th. Hope to see you there.

The flight from Chicago to Rochester was pretty uneventfully. I have had a sore throat for nearly a week and about an hour in I had a coughing fit, but luckily there was no one seated right next to me.

However, on arrival my luggage was nowhere to be found… I almost never check baggage, but with all of the handouts and supplies, it seemed a necessity this time. Now my suitcase is off gallivanting around the world. If anyone spots a mid-size rolling suitcase basking on the beach in Hawaii, please give me a call.

I filled out a report, but it’s midday Sunday and I still don’t know where the bag is. They gave me a number to call “if I had any questions”. When I tried it, a lovely voiceXML system ran me in loops. I tried all the tricks (not answering, pressing random buttons), but I could not get a real operator on the line.

Luckily, I packed the laptop and charger in me carry-on at the last minute. But, my handouts were in the case and I only have the clothes on my back.

This morning I went out to scout the local area. I thought that I cleaned up fairly nicely, even sans razor and comb, but I must have been mistaken. A really nice homeless man informed me that the salvation army had free coffee this morning and that I should join him for breakfast.

I did not find any clothing shops in the local area, just recruiting stations and adult book stores. Back at the hotel, I did pick up a brush and some other items. At noon the conference holds lunch for all of the presenters. Afterwards, I will continue my search for a clean shirt.