Detroit what?

Hello world, this is my official Detroit blog. I need a break from writing a paper, so I'm writing during my writing break... Weird, but this is fun writing, not situation analysis writing ::cringes::

I wish the Conference could be summarized in a simple paragraph, or maybe even a couple of words, but that would defeat the purpose, wouldn't it?

So, in the spirit of organized thoughts, I'll break it up into categories; travel, fun, learning, and drama. Hopefully by the time I get to the last one I'm too tired of writing about Detroit that I'll spare you all the details, we shall see.

TRAVEL
Well, first lesson of this trip: don't drink the night before you're supposed to be on a plane at 6 a.m. By the time I got done celebrating the Rays' victory over the Phillies (the only one they would have, mind you), it was nearly 3:30. I opted to take a nap, sure as hell that my alarm would wake me in 45 minutes to get up to go to the airport. Wrong. I woke up at 5:43 a.m., 17 minutes before my plane was scheduled to take off. In a confused panic, I finished "packing" and rushed to the airport.

Too late for the 6:00 flight, obviously, I was able to get on the 7:35 flight for $50. Let the monetary punishment begin. Since I missed my plane, I was the only one getting in around 2:00, so I had to pay the $47 cab ride all by myself intead of splitting it three ways. So after the cabby doesn't have change and the $50 for the first flight, I'm already $110 into what I planned on spending this weekend. Super.

Fortunately the ride back went off without a hitch, thus the end of the travel segment of this program.

FUN
The first night there, I went to a Detroit Redwings game with a couple of the guys from my chapter. Good times, enjoyed a few (and by few I mean several) Molsons in the Canadian spirit, wandered around Detroit, walked home (hotel) from the Greektown Casino after demolishing the best nachos to ever go down my throat, and I woke up the next morning feeling like a rockstar. I really held it down in Greektown, too bad that trend didn't continue.

The next night was Sydney and the guys night, as we all proceeded to root the Rays to victory (or loss, whatever). We started at a really awesome sports bar, but the rain delay was boring us so by the time we got back to the hotel the game was back on.

I went to Windsor, Canada, where I roamed around aimlessly with the girls, wandering in and out of bars, shops, haunted houses (yes, I said haunted houses) and finally: Caesars Windsor. I blew $40 bucks in about 10 minutes. Damn slots. I should have learned my lesson in Vegas - but I just love the thought of getting to spin the wheel on the Wheel of Fortune machines.

And that about wraps up the fun. Everything else as far as social stuff goes was a bore.

LEARNING
I really did learn a lot. Not only about public relations, but about myself as well. There were three sessions that really stood out to me as far as the speakers and their message were concerned.

At the tops of my list was Penelope Trunk, author of Brazen Careerist. This woman is so no-bullshit I thought I was looking into a time machine's mirror. She is me in 30 years. Hands down one of, if not the best speaker I've ever heard. Ever. So full of knowledge and so sharp - she's my new hero. Her session was about how to package yourself and career development.

Next was the VP of Communication for Domino's pizza. He was the shit. Same thing - straight shooter - no garbage, just the facts. His session was on crisis management - which I'm totally interested in now, by the way.

The guy from GM, the guy from Global Development or whatever, was awesome. 40 years in automotive PR, he's a genius. That's all I got.

I learned a lot about myself. I know how to pick my battles now (hence, not fighting back to the sass of a 19-year-old on a power trip). I know that I am very street-smart (I didn't get mugged!). I know that I am 23 going on 35, and I embrace it. Seriously, its a blessing and a curse.

I was cringing so much this weekend.

Like when Penelope Trunk was talking and everyone was cringing every time she said "spin". Spin, if you aren't aware, is a no-no in PR, it's a very bad word. People were so caught up in the word she was saying, that they completely missed the message. She was saying you need to be able to spin yourself in any situation - more in regards to being able to sell yourself, good qualities and bad, not like lying-spin. And the thing that blew my mind was, she had the professionals from PRSA all heated - they weren't paying attention to the message either!

I was also cringing every time one of the girls started talking about their boyfriends and why they are/aren't engaged yet. Mind you all of the girls I'm talking about are under 21. I'm 23 going on 35 and I know that I'm not even close to being ready to think about marriage yet. I still have a lot of myself to find out - let alone someone else.

I was cringing every time the guys opened their mouths. 20-something guys, well, guys under 26 for the most part, suck at life. They're all retarded, can't hold their liquor and are all after the same thing. I'm okay with you all being after the same thing, as long as its packaged well. But when you haven't had the years of experience on how to package it, it's so transparent. And I don't like transparent. I'm not a moron - I can see it.

DRAMA
I guess I kinda rolled drama into the Learning segment, which is what I figured what would happen. But for the sake of talking - I still can't stand being around massive amounts of ill-managed estrogen. I can handle women - I can't handle girls. I can handle people with half a brain - I can't handle girls that do anything for attention and then whine about all the attention they're getting.

All in all, I'm not letting the age gap get in the way of what I learned this weekend. I can honestly say that I walked away from the airplane having learned something - which is better than my original expectations. I didn't plan on making it home from this trip after everything everyone had said about Detroit. But I live to tell about it - with a few new tricks up my sleeve, so it's a great day.

Pics will be up as soon as I get my poor computer screen fixed. Until then, LOVE YOUR FACE!

Over and out, you know you love me,
xoxo Sydney