Dowbrigade Speaks to Empty Ballroom

The Dowbrigade has been lurking around the premises of
the Kinko Copy shop on Ocean Blvd., in Long Beach, for far too long.
We think the staff is getting suspicious, casting sidelong glances while
speaking to each other in low tones. It appears they have dealt with
internet derelicts in the past, probably some even more desperate and
disturbing than the Dowbrigade.

Kinko’s has a dozen computers to rent out, and a single red USB cable which
is available FREE to anyone with a laptop. Three blocks from the Convention
Center one would expect knife fights or laser pointer duels for squatting
rights on the Red Line, but surprisingly every time we arrive it is either
available or in use with no one else waiting. Whereupon we begin to utilize
a combination of the Sicilian evil eye and Tantric mind control to inspire
said user to remember something else important they had to do.

We just finished delivering our main spiel to the convention. We should
have known the fix was in when we saw the schedule. The Dowbrigade presents
some damn
thing
at this Convention every year, and usually we get scheduled in the conventional
horse latitudes; Tuesday morning (nobody there yet) or Saturday afternoon
(everybody gone). This year, we were scheduled for Friday 2 pm – Prime
Time. And in a Major Hotel Ballroom! The Big Time! Finally, the Dowbrigade
was getting the respect he so richly deserved, for his immense contributions
to the field. That was before we realized where the Ocean Ballroom of the
Westin Hotel was actually located.

It was a good mile from the main convention site, at the furthest extreme
from the Convention Center, across two major streets, down four city block,
past dozens of attractive stores, bars and cafes. When we saw the way to
the Westin ran directlythrough a 3 block flea market we knew it would be
an intimate session.

Last year we presented on a really interesting topic: Moshe Meet Mohammed
: Defusing Cultural Conflicts in the Classroom. The conference organizers
put us in a small conference room on Saturday morning. People were standing
in the hall listening and we ran out of handouts by half.

Today we were presenting on a rather specialzed and unglamorous topic Balancing
Priorities in Design of a Pre-LLM Program for Foreign Lawyers, and the
scheduled us in a hotel ballroom that could hae held 1000. Ten people came, but they were a magnificent
ten, and it was a lively session.

Now that our official duties are done, the Dowbrigade is looking to get
wild and crazy in Los Angeles. Of course, we know absolutely no one on
the West Coast and have no idea of where to go for a good time (so to speak).
Any ideas?

here is the PDF of the slides