SharePoint Saturday, D.C.

I don't use SharePoint. I have just a basic idea of what it does. Who knew it would take me on a variety of road trips and lead to fun excursions at the destinations? While Rick packs his brain all day at SharePoint sessions, I meander around wherever I am until we meet up with the group later to go out and have fun.

I have now tagged along to two SharePoint Saturday weekends - one in Boston, one in D.C. - or to be more precise, the surprisingly fun suburbs of Waltham, MA and Reston, VA. In Boston last month, I set out on foot and didn't stop until five hours later and then just to have some lunch. While in D.C. this past weekend, we headed into the city to experience the monuments at night. The cherry blossoms littered the ground like delicate pink confetti as we walked from the Lincoln Memorial to the Washington, the spring night air was perfect and the company highly entertaining and welcoming to a non-SharePointer. From an impromptu light saber duel during which a stranger sidled up and joined in for a few jabs to lying at the base of the Washington monument to look up at the top, it had the air of a senior trip. Maybe that's because my senior trip - way back in the day - was there though our bus driver got lost, and we didn't get to all our designated stops.

Rick is really motivated as a user of SharePoint to learn all he can and then share what he knows via blogging and presenting. I had a small epiphany today about getting certified in the design programs I use. Perhaps I could eventually train people if I headed in that direction. It could be worth the mental road trip.