About two years ago, I posted that I had a chance to go to an antispam conference in Austria. I was invited by one of the organizers, but my manager said no. Ergo, I couldn’t go. I was disappointed at the time but I still got to travel a lot that year (2007).
Well, it’s now two years later and I have been invited to speak at an antispam conference in Geneva, Switzerland! I once again asked my manager if I could go and he said that Microsoft wouldn’t pay for it. So I thought “Well, I guess that’s that.” Or is it?
He said I could still go if I paid for it. But I was like “Me? Pay for a trip? Ha!” I checked out the price of the flight. A flight over there is only about $700. But the cost of the hotel is ~$300 per night. Oy! Three nights is more than the flight over there! So I figured there’s no way I’m going, I can’t really afford that.
But then I said to myself “Self? Be honest here, when am I ever going to get a chance to speak at a conference at which I was invited? I can get into the conference for free, a $1700 value.” So I have been musing it over and I think I am going to go. Might as well do these things when I can, who knows whether or not I’ll ever get another chance like this.
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