7 Days. . .

Its Monday, and it is the start of yet another week.  I have got lots on my plate, but thankfully I am off work until Friday.

This week will be spent making preparations for my latest EMS related journey: EMS Expo in Las Vegas.  The countdown seemed to start on the last day of EMS Today, and although I could sit here and tell you that it felt like it has been ages, the last six months has flown by.

It is hard for me to believe that just about a year ago I was making the same preparations to hop on a plane and make my first major conference appearance in Dallas at last year’s EMS Expo, but it is true.  That trip was a completely different ball game though: I had only met a few people from the social media community face to face and I was going to meet a heck of a lot more.  Podcasting was new to me, I had only been doing it for a little more than a month.  Also, I really did not know what to expect from the whole experience, I mean, I expected that I was going to have a good time, but I did not expect Dallas to be as amazing as it was.

Now, a year later, I am ready for the vacation of my life.  I’ve been asked by a number of people that I work with if I was going to Vegas for business or for pleasure?  I tell them a little bit of both, and some of them cannot fathom how so much fun can be had at a conference, and I have to try to explain it to them.  Some get it, and some don’t.  Yes, EMS Expo is an industry related convention; yes, I am going to be doing some balance of working and learning while I am there.  What they do not really grasp is the concept of this amazing group of friends that I have made in this short journey.  The best part of Expo is I will get to spend almost every waking moment with them.  Sure, it comes at a price: when we all part, I will be miss them like crazy until EMS Today in February, and I’ll have to deal with another bout of Post Conference Depression Syndrome (PCDS) but the time that I will spend with all of them will be worth that.

If you want to find me, I will be spending a lot of time at the Podcasting and Blogging lounge that has been put together by ProMed.  My Netbook will be with me, and I’ll be blogging and tweeting away, I can assure you of that.  Come check out some of the live shows that will be going on throughout the three days, it is really kind of neat to be able to put a face with a name and a voice that you might hear on shows like EMS Standing Orders, EMS Garage, and First Few Moments.

For those of you that I have already met who will be joining us in Las Vegas, I can’t wait to see you all again!  To the people that I have yet to meet face to face: I can’t wait to have the opportunity do so.  Finally, to my readers who have not yet made it to one of these conferences, what are you waiting for?  There is so much to learn, and so many people to meet.  It is an experience that will change your life.  That’s what it did for me.