This week I’ve had the pleasure of attending the egamma conference in the quaint mountain town of Leysin nestled in the Swiss Alps. As I look at the beautiful scenery from my hotel room, I can’t help but be reminded of songs from the Sound of Music. In the distance I can imagine a traveling band of singing youngsters wearing drapes while crossing the mountains. (The Sound of Music is my mom’s favorite movie and on her birthday she makes us watch it). I also think back about my home in Colorado. I was fortunate in that I learned to ski young, so I don’t have the completely rational fear of death by tree. I guess it’s the wrong season for that now, but it’s clear that the town is more geared towards winter than summer (which I’m sure is why we had the conference here at this time of year).
A view of the conference hotel
In reality, the conference could have been in any place since the meetings run consistently from 9 am to 7 pm (breaks for lunch and coffee, of course). As I sit in the room trying to pay attention to the person who holds the microphone just far enough away so that no one can hear him, I think to myself people weren’t meant to sit in meetings for 8 hours a day for days at a time. As I look around the room, my feelings are validated by a sea of people with laptops that have terminals and emails open. Maybe later this morning I’ll convince myself that it’s OK to skip a session and go up the telecabine to the top of the mountain.
Until then, back to fake rates and signal efficiencies
-Regina
