I've long been a smitten fan of Adaptive Path, both as a beacon in the area of experience and as an ideal working experience. Their conferences and seminars have historically been out of my financial reach, but a one-day conference for under $300 was something absolutely affordable.

My department balked at the expense. Undeterred, I took a business trip for my nearly-dormant personal company, including a meeting with a potential client and lunch with a former one. I also recruited my AWR counterpart, @smellvin, whose department approved his trip. We're splitting the cost of the hotel.

I'm immediately impressed by the genuine approachability of the Adaptive Path team. The fun conversation had with Sarah Nelson in Chicago seemed to extend, uninterrupted, to the other employees who greeted us when we arrived. For people who hold such tremendous influence in their field, it was heartening to find them quite human. Perhaps this is indicative of the San Francisco des/dev community in general.

My initial feeling was that I was in the company of pros. Most people I interacted with were project managers by title, where much of what I do is project management by default. The topics and concepts discussed, however, were enlightening, relevant, and, in many cases very dear--elements of my experience consultancy.

San Francisco, originally uploaded by Leftsider.

In honesty, I found the conference to be extremely frustrating. So much good information was  proffered, and so many real-world examples of implementation sat around the room. It made my failures and middling achievments in my current position all the more grating. But is this dissatisfaction is the energy that will power self-development and the professional improvement I hope to offer my team.

We had an after-event at the very unique Kennedy's Irish Pub and Indian Curry House, an enjoyable time. The whole affair was completely worthwile, especially as I'm quite fond of SF in general. I'll be leaving the overcast 60-degree weather for true east coast winter on Sunday.