Praise be to persistence!

As I got news of the four star hotel in Brussels  and the finest hotel in Leeds, where I'll be staying courtesty of event organisers, I remembered the days when my friend/co-author and I stayed in the cheapest, most grotty places in Barcelona, Brighton and elsewhere - just to get our work heard.

So determined were we to find people to listen to our ideas that we would walk for kilometers to a cheap residence, unpack our sandwiches on a single musty bed, and plan the final details of our presentation for a conference the following day.

The first conference we went to was in Porto. We took the night train so we wouldn't have to pay for a night in a hotel. We sat upright on second-class seats, unable to sleep as it jerked to a stop at every station between Lisbon and Porto.

We arrived In Porto at 4 in the morning and walked about until a café opened ninety minutes later. I remember it was cold. Later we found a more salubrious café (now MacDonalds) where we washed before making our way to the University, taking it in turns to carry Sally's heavy portable computer. I also remember how pleased we were with the paper we presented at that conference in Porto. And how criticized it was by the audience!

It didn't deter us though. Neither that or our miserable Portuguese salaries as we found more conferences to go to in Europe.

And now, many, many conferences later, people are listening. And, thanks be to the lord, the hotels are getting more comfortable.

technorati tags:Sally, persistance

Blogged with Flock

Comments

[Harry]

My immediate reaction was "Best Hotel in Leeds - the Queen's". Fond memories of an audit away from London, helped by there being an ex-girlfriend at Leeds University at the time. Anyway, I'm sure the Radisson is just as grand (by 'eck). Have fun...

[Beverly Trayner]

My daughter's not far (Manchester) so that and the firework display will make even funner!