I wanted to write a post about going to the Pass Data Community Summit this year, and everything I started to write sounded cheesy. So I started thinking (finally), how could I share my love for the event? 

One of my hobbies is photography. My goal in taking pictures is to remind me of a time and place, ideally in its perfect state. For example, my primary subject is theme parks. I want to present a memory that is a little better than reality. A lot of this is keeping the number of people in a picture just right. Either no people, or lots of people, depending on the situation. Like if I am photographing a show. I either want to make it look like there is a large crowd, or I want it to look like I am basically there alone. Then I let my imagination fill in the rest in the best way possible. (Hopefully forgetting the person behind me singing different music, and the person in front of me holding a phone above their head with video lighting on.)

I will be honest and say that in previous years, I didn’t take pictures of the Summit to put out there to showcase my photography skills. So most of these picture are not super high quality (I definitely intend that my post-2023 PASS Data Community Summit picture will be). But, every picture gives me feels in a way that I think, assuming you too have been at these events, they will for you too.

A Few Pictures To Get Your Brain Started

For PASS, I like to get a picture of the entrance to the show. Like this was from the last one I went to before they changed the name of the convention center:

Escalator pictures are good ones to bring back memories too. When you are there early and you are riding up to the 4^th floor to fetch your badge to get things started (Note: I am not saying registration is on the 4^th floor this year!)

The other type of picture I like is an action picture that will often have a LOT of people in it. For theme parks, this usually occurs when there are fireworks, or a parade. If there aren’t people packed in to watch the spectacle, it feels wrong. Throngs of people are needed. This is true for things like keynotes, or one of the attendee parties (this is a fairly fuzzy picture, but it is quite a memory of Grant as Darth Vader.):

If just a few people were in that picture, it would feel weird.

Same with moving around the conference. Going back to the escalators, heading down them after session is a big memory (and one I don’t have enough pictures of), This was from 12 years ago, probably heading to lunch since there are more of us heading to the 4^th floor than up to the 6th.

Some memories are never to be recreated again. Like this one from the Quiz Bowl:

It was incredible how many smart people passed through that competition. I was always running the game, with Tim Ford the emcee, so I don’t have a lot of pictures, but just this one brings them all back (especially the year that Gail Shaw was one of the contestants!).

And because of working on Quiz Bowl, I often got to see some of the rooms as they were being set up or practiced in:

The one thing I don’t do nearly enough of is sightseeing. I have a few pictures from the Seattle area (of course Pike’s Market!):

But there are plenty things to look at right around the conference center:

 

With that, I think it is time to head over to the keynote:

And a few more

I searched through all of my pictures over the year and picked out some favorites for the post. So I am not wasting them! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you read this far, and you won’t be there this year (but have been to several of the one’s in the pictures), I apologize for any sad feelings you may be having.