The music was good, but it looked like there were some hiccups going on and the organizers of the event were doing everything they could to keep everything moving.
The conference itself is held at the Phoenix Convention Center in downtown Phoenix, so it goes without saying that traffic is going to be bad. Which is why I am VERY thankful I took the light rail from a Park & Ride right down the street from my home to the convention center. Plus, the parking garages were charging $16.00 for the event, the all day ticket to the light rail was $6.00. I not only saved a HEAP of time, but I saved $10.00.
I left home at about 7:15 this morning and got there at about 8:15 as they were opening the doors. I sat with some wonderful friends and it was a fantastic day. My packing on the day before really paid off, plus I brought my own container of water and my own lunch. The Convention Center was charging $4 for a bottled water and $6 - $7 for the lunches. More money saved.
I did, however, spend some money at the Deseret Bookstore area they set up so attendees can purchase items from partners (sponsors) as well as books and music from people speaking and performing at the conference. They didn’t offer any deals for the ebooks, though, that would have been great.
With the conference, attendees get a free tote bag, this year’s is gorgeous.
I purchased the ones from the previous years that I didn’t attend, plus I purchased a little notebook for note taking and the DVD for this year’s conference. I have the DVD’s for the previous years purchased already, now I just need to digitize this one and add it to my private viewing collection!
One of the speakers, who was supposed to be speaking in the morning, didn’t show up until late in the afternoon. Some of us were guessing that her flight in was delayed, so speakers got moved around with an additional group discussion on the stage to kill time before the speaker arrived.
All in all it was a great day, I’m thankful I was able to attend.
Going home was quite a treat as well, there were large groups of people leaving the convention center and many were going to their vehicles to drive away. Only a fraction of us were taking the light rail to get back to our vehicles.
I was VERY thankful, though, to have taken the light rail for a reason I wasn’t aware of but soon found out. We were riding into Tempe when I noticed traffic on Mill Avenue looked bad. Really bad. Rush hour traffic on a Saturday bad. The following stop at ASU explained why. There was a game at ASU and there were SCORES of people getting onto the light rail cars that already had those of us from the conference on board. People were packed like sardines in every car and another train was coming up from behind to pick up the next batch of people trying to load onto the trains.
The group were decked out in ASU maroon and gold and in very good spirits as they had beat University of Utah. Some really funny stories from the people around me kept everyone entertained until it was time for me to get off and several others from the train also got off at the same stop, there were several others, though, who knew I was getting off and moved aside so I could get off at my stop.
I left on the train at about 4:10 and arrived on my doorstep a little after 5:00. Pretty good considering how much traffic I avoided!
Next year’s conference is definitely one I’m going to have to splurge for.
2019’s theme is going to be labeled “HEAR”, meaning to hear the word of the Lord given to people for their personal revelation. They are also going to be including resources and a discussion with questions from the attendees that will be designed to assist people in seeking and receiving personal revelation.
The one downside to this year: there was no mention of the wireless password for the convention center so I was unable to take advantage of the advertisements being splayed out on the screens during the breaks.
I can’t wait!
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