what i remember of U09 seven months later, part III

december 26, 2009

this is the one day from my week in st. louis last december that i really don't want to remember. consequently the memories are a bit hazy.

i started the day moving all of the minute by minute binders from my hotel room to the edward jones dome. convention centers are their own bureaucratic worlds- because of union rules, basic pre-conference activities like unloading had to be planned months in advance...so not knowing how i was going to get 12 boxes of three inch binders and 40-something swag bags from the hotel to the dome was a huge source of headache. i remember feeling immensely grateful that one of the ops directors helped me take them across the street to the dome with his golf cart. i also remember feeling really jealous of his mode of transportation that week.

the rest of the day is a huge blur. i remember walking through the backstage area of the dome, to make sure that the locker rooms were opened to be used as green rooms for the platform teams. i remember wanting to tear my hair out as i greeted the platform folks. i was thrilled to see them, but we had a massive hotel check-in problem for what seemed like the entire worship, theatre and speaker teams. some couldn't remember their aliases for check-in, some had the wrong check-out dates, some weren't in the system at all. it's really hard for me to not take responsibility when stuff like that happens, so i had to work hard to not feel like i failed the entire universe.

later in the evening, it was the staff banquet, something that i've been looking forward to since i first heard about it. unfortunately, i don't remember much about this either, except getting teary eyed when alec talked about jim and beth leaving for the middle east after his term with intervarsity. oh, and making sure that nikki didn't drink iced tea. that was part of my onsite job description, so i'm proud to say that i did that part really well. the highlight of that evening was getting the rolling laptop case from joe. for the rest of that week, carrying a three inch binder, four bottles of vitamin water, radio and headset, nikki's iphone, my cell phone and an endless supply of hand sanitizer packets and ginger tea was a breeze, thanks to joe's mom. it didn't matter that i got teased for bringing a "school bus" with me everywhere i went. i got things done with it by my side, and that's what mattered.

the last scheduled event that day was the orientation for backstage staff. katherine was in charge of the orientation, but she was stuck at o'hare due to a cursed snowstorm...which meant that i had to lead the meeting. wendi, who was my large group staff worker, was there as one of the backstage lounge hosts. giving instructions to my former staff worker felt weird, but it also reminded me of how far i've come along. the orientation went well, for the most part. it's funny though, how one can easily forget one's many accomplishments in the face of a few, stark failures. i got everything i needed to get done at the orientation, but fell asleep realizing that i forgot to do the most important thing: start the meeting with prayer.