So that is why they are here. Who are «they» you may ask? And because I am quite in a good mood I will answer you. «they» are four different people.
The first one is a French man. As we walked in the plane from London to the innovative city he heard us, girls, speaking French. After knowing we were Swiss and a few exchange it was his turn to tell us the reason of his trip: « I am here for a conference ». Fair enough.
After about 6 hours and (only) one movie in this flight, my back called my body to stand. So I did. I went for a coffee. There I met that guy originally from India, living in London. He is the second «they». We chatted a little. This salesman told me about his trip, a bit of his life, and also got interested in mine. «So why San Francisco then?» I asked. « I am here for a conference ». He added that San Francisco is way better than Dallas for conferences. He emphasized on how much Dallas was boring. Never been there anyway.
Next morning, 8 am local time. A short night was behind us and it was time to enjoy our first «cream cheese bagel» breakfast in our international hostel. Quite a crowded room, but lucky enough to find a place to sit. In front of me: this guy from New York. The third «they» : « I am here for a tech conference ». Well at least this one precised which kind of conference he was here for. He then continued to talk about engineering stuff with one of my engineer friend. Morning plus engineering are two good reasons for me to just listen and drink my coffee.
I have done it until this last (but not least) «they» got my attention: « I am here for an art conference ». Art conference? Really? So people are really coming from all over the world to hear people say things in a specific area. My thoughts on it are that conferences are strongly linked with networking. It is about Meeting people. Otherwise why would they even move from so far to do so?
San Francisco is probably not only an innovative city in terms of creativity, start-ups and development, but also a nest of people willing to know about others and their points of view.
I look at our program more in details … a filled-up awesome schedule is waiting for us. And guess what? I presume that we are also here for conferences.