Breakfast at Mel's Diner

Last week, I attended Oracle OpenWorld.  For those unaware, it’s an event where 60,000 people come together to learn, interact, network and exchange ideas.  It’s always a great event and I enjoy being a part of it. 

One morning, I was on my way to a meeting and decided to pop into Mel’s Diner for a quick bite on the way.  I was instructed to take an open seat at the counter.  I sat down and was greeted by the man to my left with a, “Powering up before a long day?” comment.  To which I agreed.  We started up the typical conversation around the conference, the keynotes, education session, the normal chatter.  The man to my right joined in and before we know it, we had 5 people, sitting side by side, all chatting about the conference. 

That isn’t anything new, that happens all the time, but what struck me was the geographical make up.  Two seats to my right, a fellow employee from eastern Europe;  on my right, an attendee from South Africa; on my left, an attendee from Turkey and to his left, an attendee from Brazil. 

This reminded me about how travel REALLY makes many things possible.  It means I can have breakfast and share in a great conversation with 4 strangers from all over the world.  It also means I can be home and have dinner and an even better conversation with my family that same day.  Travel means that 60,000 people can share in an experience, can learn, can interact and network and by the end of the week, be back in their own countries taking back what they learned, experienced and maybe thinking fondly about a conversation they had over breakfast at Mel’s Diner. 

Travel makes things happen and so, while staying home for a week or two, I keep going!