I'm back from a quick trip to Michigan. The Great Lakes Software Excellence Conference was taking place and my talk had been accepted. My talk was titled Breaking the Law of Bureaucracy (I'll upload my deck in a few days) and the topic was Servant-Leadership. Though I really enjoyed giving my talk, the best part of my visit was all of the people I interacted with. I finally met Casey DuBois, a guy I've known via email and phone for over a decade. We used to do business together (long distance) and this meetup was a long time coming. Next, I met several people from Atomic Object and drank a bunch of their coffee. Later, I met the organizers, sponsors, and other speakers who made the conference happen. And to think that was just Friday.
Saturday went by way too fast. Everything ran very smoothly. I gave my talk, we played Simon Says and Red Light Green Light, and I even had an opportunity to meet Ben Lichtenwalner from ModernServantLeader.com. If I could have done anything more, it would have been attend more of the sessions. The speakers and content were top notch.
It was really exciting to talk to a few local startups from the Grand Rapids area and to hear about a local incubator called Momentum. It made me realize the importance of local incubators and helping startups succeed. These startups have solid ideas! I'd write about them now but I want to have standalone posts for them.
So, I'm going to keep this short.
Thank you to Grand Rapids for a truly awesome experience. A very special thank you to Mr. Casey DuBois for his amazing hospitality.