Archive for April, 2010

I can’t wait to hit the French Quarter for our first meal in the Big Easy. Where to go, that is the big question. We have been surfing the web looking at all the taste treats available. New Orleans is known for its great food and we are partial to the Cajun cuisine - gumbo, jambalaya, crawfish, andouille, turducken, and so many more. Coming from New Mexico it is natural that we go for the spicy side of the menu. We put green chili on everything in New Mexico (even ice cream). Do you think there is a Cajun-New Mexican restaurant? Wow, green chili jambalaya or crawfish etouffee seasoned with green chili - what a taste treat! Those would be right up there with the famous green chili cheese burger and my personal favorite green chili Pad Thai.

Enjoying the host city is part of the T&D Expo experience and how better than jumping on the web and starting planning. After all we have breakfast, lunch, and dinner to enjoy. We have to keep our strength up to cover the acres of exhibits. We have to be fueled for the miles of aisles. I better get back to my surfing time is wasting.

It has been a long hard winter and I am soooo ready for warm weather. The snow is starting to melt on the mountains, but not fast enough. I have been checking out New Orleans on weather.com for the past couple of days and day dreaming. The predicted highs are to be in the mid 70s and the lows in the mid 60s for our conference time.

There is no excuse for missing the companion tours or the technical tours other than there are just way too many things to pick from. How can we do it all? Well, Pam and I coming in a couple of days early - it is the only way to make it fit. We will tour the plantations one day and take a swamp tour the next. I have to laugh at myself about the swamp tour. I grew up in southern Florida. The Everglades were just a few miles from our front door. Swamp tour was also called going to school each day - go figure.

The PES T&D Expo blog is up and running. In the past two years since the 2008 T&D Expo I have been to a lot of conferences. None of them took advantage of the the social networking technology like the blog. Blog - what a strange word. it comes from journalist John Barger. He made daily changes to his web page and called it a weblog (web log). Someone thought it read we blog. That was shortened to blog and the rest is history.

It’s a great way to keep friends and family up to date on what is happening, which is why we do it. The PES family is about to have its biggest reunion ever! I am going to try find interesting people, products, and anything else I think will help us have a great time in New Orleans. Let me know what you find interesting. I need help because I can’t see it all (as much as I try). So, send me comments on what has attracted your attention.

Universities are the life blood of our industry. Engineering students need to be exposed to our new technologies, where the standards come from, who writes the standards, and what organization leads the industry. That is why I really got excited when I talked with my friend Dr. Satish Ranade from New Mexico State University (NMSU). He told me he is bringing 18 engineering students to New Orleans - to the T&D Expo! 18 students - wow!

NMSU has been committed to power engineering for a long time. They kept power engineering alive in their engineering curriculum when when it wasn’t cool, but they don’t just talk commitment. They do it. I can’t think of a better place to jump start a power engineer’s excitement for a career in our electric industry. Imagine, letting a group of students hit the floor at the PES T&D Expo and wander around meeting people and playing with the tech-toys on display. What are the other universities doing? How many student are you bringing? So far NMSU is in the lead! Let me know your plans.

Can you believe it? the 2010 Transmission and Distribution Conference and Exposition is almost here! It seems like a few months ago we said good bye in Chicago and now we are on the eve of the 2010 T&D Expo. The Crescent City is calling. For the techno-geeks like me, it is the Superbowl, World Series, and March Madness all rolled into one and making it even better is the setting. New Orleans - jazz, Creole cooking and Cajun Cuisine, the French Quarter, and chicory coffee. We have an exhibition floor with just about everything imaginable in the way of technology and business solutions for our industry. Stay tuned blog followers - this is going to be exciting. I plan to do some pre-conference exploring and will report back.