MoMoMo

As I think I've mentioned before, I occasionally attend Mobile Monday, which is a monthly gathering of Bay Area mobile developers. I decide on a case by case basis whether to attend, depending on the location and the topic. (Mobile Search at Google? I am SO there! Funding a Start-Up in Berkeley? Eh... pass.) This week the topic was the current handset market, with hard data from researchers about what phone models were out there, what their capabilities were, how different carriers and manufacturers compared, etc. It's a topic that (a) is somewhat relavant to my current work, and (b) I don't know a whole lot about. So, after riding back home (oh yeah, I'm riding to work again), I showered, hopped in my car, and drove up to the Motorola plant in Sunnyvale, who was hosting the meeting.

A little background - the same two people have been organizing most meetings, which are very ad-hoc. They depend on donations of space and supplies for the meetings. Sometimes, as with Google, it's really classy - they gave us a nice big conference room and their cafe catered in some nice appetizers and fancy desserts. Others are more ordinary - I went to a meeting at AOL held in a regular conference room, where a local headhunting firm had ordered lots of pizza for everyone.

In lieu of my normal post, I would like to transcribe verbatim from my notebook the comments I wrote to myself while sitting on a chair in Motorola's cafeteria, waiting for the meeting to begin.

Mo Mo Mo - Mobile Monday Motorola
Topic: Phone hardware market and more
Almost nobody's here! It was hard to find, though
It doesn't help that we're in a cafe, with food tantalizingly out of reach behind glass cases, along with signs that say "HUNGRY? We can help!" The joke being that, while perhaps they could help, they choose not to.
Man.... I will be very tempted to leave if they start this without any food. I do not need this. I rode 15 miles today.
It's also cute how the email made a point of saying that we needed to get here at 7 sharp. It's well past that, with no word on when we're starting.
If I'd stayed home, I'd be eating my last Lou Malnati's now.
As it is, I could run my errands and still get back in time to eat enchiladas before 8. No "professional development" is worth this.
Food food food foof [sic] food food.
If I'd started lunch at noon as planned, instead of 11:58, I'd be 2 minutes less hungry than I am now.
OK... plenty of people now. Maybe even too many for the chairs laid out. Nobody else seems as furious as me, though. No, they're happily standing, chatting, mingling, networking, while I'm over here, slumped over in my chair, trying to distract myself from hunger pains by writing about how hungry I am. This isn't the smartest thing I've done.
Seriously, though: what's the deal? I've had this fantasy that someone ran out for pizza. Maybe they haven't started yet because they're waiting for it to get here. Yeah, right!
Oh, sure... they're waiting until NOW to set up the projector? Geniuses!
I propose an armed insurrection.
There are more women here than I expected. Still just around 10-15%, but still. I wonder if more women attend certain topics?
My rage fills me. My hunger consumes me. Which will fall first, my mind or my body? That will be tonight's entertainment.
They just gave the 5-minute warning. "Yay." No food, I guess.... what a shame. I will destroy everyone.
Now the question: do I leave now? Seems like a waste. They haven't said for sure that we aren't having food, I guess.
Finally starting.
Next month may be messaging!

[End of pre-meeting notes. I won't bother transcribing my notes from the actual meeting.]

(There wasn't any food. I ended up eating an enchilada much later than I would have preferred. The meeting itself was quite useful and informative.)

(I promise this will be my last food-oriented post for a while.)