I'm about to head for Myrtle Beach Airport for the flight home after my first complete IHEEP conference (my first IHEEP was truncated by Hurrican Ian a few years back). What a great week!
I'm not sure what I liked best:
- the unexpected delight of seeing an ex-colleague I hadn't seen in thirty-two years
- Seeing a Bunch of recent ex-colleagues (who were mostly remote)
- seeing folks I have know for decades
- Meeting face-to-face collaborators (and friends) I had only seen in Teams windows
- Meeting face-to-face LinkedIn Connections I had never met or seen outside of their posts ("Hey, we're already LinkedIn Connections!")
- Meeting brand new people. Becoming quick good friends with some of them (even without the "influence" of the Hospitality Suite).
The content was amazing and intense.
And different. I've done dozens of Vendor Conferences. The approach and attitude here is different. A lot of "humble-brags" (which are well-deserved), but very much an attitude of "here's how we were successful and here's the unvarneshed truth of where we're hitting a (temporary) celiling. A surprising amount of collaboration amongst competitors. Maybe there will be world peace. :)
I was humbled by the spectrum of brilliance and also validated that the pivot I've made in the past yeaqr or so ("All in on the Digital Revolution!") was the right move. Ballrooms full of True Believers in a Dynamic Integrated future. Inspiring!
See y'all in Austin in December 2026 ("Putting the How in Howdy"? "Putting the 'How to Do' in Barbecue"?).
It was uplifting to see you all!
PS: Extra Thanks to the SCDOT staff and everyone involved: absolutely great job!
