Having registered for the conference yesterday — name tags, programs and no swag, which has disappeared entirely from this conference — we started off this year’s edition of the Southern States Communication Association in the old-fashioned way, attending panels.
My favorite of the day was one titled “From Teddy to FDR: Rhetoric and he Presidential Roosevelts.” There were papers there from Teddy’s classic 1883 Duties speech to women’s suffrage and FDR’s Lend-Lease debates. I liked it because the papers had such an impact and a chronological bent that you can trace so much of the 20th century weaved right through the words and the circumstance of the time.
There were other panels. There was also this guy:
That’s one surprised conquistador. And so there I am, in the cafe at lunch, a ridiculous imitation of a CSI drama, trying to figure out what in his line of sight has him so startled.It made no sense. Whatever goosed him had moved on and he wasn’t talking about it:
But the food was good at Colombia Cafe. And while I don’t normally take pictures of food, this is the sort of enthusiasm that can occur when you have a sandwich for dinner, skip breakfast and have a late lunch.
It didn’t hurt that one of our friends had already been there for lunch, said it was good, recommended that dish in particular and then decided, “I’ll go back with you.”
Conferences are special like that.
Just across the street from the hotel is the Amalie Center, home of the Tampa Bay Lightning. They were hosting the Devils tonight. We got tickets, got inside just in time for the national anthem and see the Tesla generator hanging from the ceiling spark up the dark room.
They just wrapped up the women’s NCAA finals earlier in the week. Hockey tonight, indoor football tomorrow and hockey the next day. The Amalie Center is a busy place. And so is our conference. Tomorrow we have a cool futurist panel, should be fun, if you’re in the area. Teleport your way on in.
