This is a sculpture outside of the Sheraton Hotel along the 16th St pedestrian mall. There seems to be numerous sculptures everywhere I ventured in the downtown area. I kept trying to remember if I've ever been in downtown Denver before and I only remeber using the airport and moving on to Boulder, Aspen or Snowmass. Locations that I do remember visiting in the past to attend meetings or conferences.
Yesterday evening, a half dozen of us went to ChoLun, which advertises itself as "A Modern Asian Bistro". The menu offerings were so unusual that we just ordered all of the apetizers and small dishes on the menu. Such things and corned beef & sauerkraut spring rolls and soup dumplings. Wonderful place, great food and interesting company. All network engineers from South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Colorado some of whom I have known and worked with for years.
This is just a shot of one of the meetings. Again, primarily network engineering types with a few program managers and executives thrown in. The group was tasked with coming up with policies, measurement techniques and definitions that we could all live with. Herding cats came to mind. The Internet2 engineering community has been a fabulous group to work with over the last 15 years.
BTW, it seems that winter has returned to Fairbanks much to the chagrin of those back home. This was taken yesterday morning.
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Richard:
ReplyDeleteIt makes a difference to work with people you have actually met before. I have not been to our head office since 2002 so even though we know each other on the phone, we have yet to meet.
At least it's sunny back home
bob
A weekend photographer or Riding the Wet Coast
Absolutely right. Whenever we set up a new working group or committee, we always try to have an in-person committee. You may be able to communicate but you can't initiate initiate a relationship or develop any kind of trust unless you meet someone face to face. There is a real trend among some to try and do everything with audio or video conferencing but I don't believe that it is as effective. After an initial meeting, meeting by phone or video works to maintain a relationship.
DeleteI also find it quite helpful to meet team members in person, especially when they come from different parts of the world. Thankfully most of my employers made it happen at least once a year to arrange for a meeting of my counterparts in the "mothership".
ReplyDeleteMaybe I'm just too old school, but I'm not sure a completely virtual team would do as well as one that met occasionally.
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