I arrived in Austin today to prepare for our organization’s annual conference and expo, which starts Wednesday. Hard to believe how much time goes into this sort of thing (all year long, but especially those hectic couple of months beforehand).

Walking into the hotel I was immediately approached by several members who are here for some pre-meetings going on — the sorts of terrific people and couples who I’ve gotten to know over the years but, unfortunately, only see once or twice a year. Handshakes, backslaps, hugs and even the occasional kiss all around.

Considering how my mind was off in la-la land as I walked in the door (running down to-do lists; remembering two emails I forgot to send yesterday; wondering if I’d reminded a staffer to do something when, if I were to stop and think about it, I’d realize that she doesn’t need me to remind her to do anything), it was almost a shock to the system to look up and see a past chairman and his wife — two of my favorite people in the world whom I haven’t seen since last year’s meeting — and then get a bear hug of greeting from both.

"Oh yeah," I thought. "That’s why we do this."

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