A champagne conference

I'm back from the big dork-fest conference and trying to work off all of baguettes, cheese, and wine. The conference itself was enjoyable and a good experience for me in terms of working on my public speaking and schmoozing (talking business while eating a snack).





As Reims is in the champagne region, there was a champagne welcome reception, which was held in the town hall.



The champagne was flowing and there were little champagne elves that seemed to flit about filling empty glasses. Unfortunately I was too nervous for my presentation the next morning and only had one glass. I did manage to schmooze a bit and even met an Italian doctor who is a bit of a legend in our field. My cheesy grin is a result of him pointing out that his tie was covered in condoms (which he told me he proudly wears on his visits to the Vatican).



Even though I was extremely nervous, my presentation went fine. I kept to time and lucikly there were no difficult questions from the crowd. My colleague captured me looking rather dorky. Shame the hotel didn't have a hair dryer so I looked like a bit of a frizz ball for the entire three days.



After my presentation I was ready to relax and actually enjoy the conference and most importantly the food on offer! The best part of attending European conferences is the food (and booze). I only took a picture of the dessert on one day but the food was pretty tremendous over the course of the three days. And there was even a bottle of red and white wine on each table to sample. North American conference organizers should take note!



Me and my colleagues on the last day. Notice the wine bottles :)