Shifting Gears

Since Wednesday, I have been in D.C. for the SHRM’s Law and Legislative Conference. 

As a blogger that focuses on workplace issues, I thought this would provide me with a great amount of topics to discuss. Unfortunately, I have let my many thoughts get in the way of writing about what’s been happening here.  As a result, it’s been difficult to write a summary of some of the sessions and the experiences I have had.

On the one hand, I could write about the chicken caesar salad that took a half-hour to make at the hotel restaurant, my frustration with the Wi-Fi in the hotel and conference rooms, or the dinner I had with Mike VanDervort and Joan Ginsberg at Kramer Books.

On the other hand, I could write about the session on health care costs, in which the best one can hope for is to slow down the increases by considering self funding vs. fully funding, a good broker, a good plan design, and wellness programs.  Or I could write about how SHRM set up sessions for attendees to meet with their local congress men and women to lobby for issues that SHRM is advocating.  Or I could review all of the legislation that affects the workplace and the status of each.  Or I could write about the focus group I attended on compensation. Or I could write about the discussion led by Claire Shipman and Katty Kay on workplace flexibility. Or I could write about how the Tweeters in the session on social media after an hour listening to all the negative stories started to speak up and say enough already. Or I could write about the beautiful reception last night at the Library of Congress.

All of this is good stuff for an article or two.  But I realize that I am actually a little outside of my element right now.  I typically write on the go all the time.  But I have always put the finishing touches on my articles at home before I press, publish.   So I realize I would have definitely benefitted from having a smart phone so I could Twitter my immediate thoughts on the conference.  This would have allowed me to shift gears constantly and still micro-blog. 

But as it is, today this article is the best accumulation of the past two day’s events.  Later today though, I am committed to writing specifically on Immigration Reform and then on FMLA compliance.

I’m curious as to how this will turn out as I shift gears from casually writing from the comfort of home to writing as the scene unfolds, dealing with crappy Wi-Fi and publishing as soon as the session is over.