I had the privilege to attend a short seminar series this week, met a lot of nice people and learned a lot. And I couldn’t help but reminisce about military conferences I had attended.
It isn’t that military conferences weren’t as nice, it is just that they…OK, they weren’t as nice. For one thing, everyone seemed to actually want to be at this conference. Not so when the Navy put one on. I do not ever remember wanting to attend a military seminar, and neither did anyone else.
I actually took notes at this conference, and do not recall ever doing that in uniform. (In hindsight, I’m not so sure that was the military’s fault.)
This week, leaders of various companies met to discuss leadership, use of metrics, and other pertinent topics that applied across a wide spectrum of industries. Despite the differences in their specialties and organizations, the attendees were happy to work together to help each other reach their respective goals. It kind of reminded me of a joint conference from the good old days.
Then again, maybe not.