Day Twenty Two,
Please proceed Ty!
Buzzwordy leaned forward to greet his panelists on the podium and told them that everything was going to be just fine.
"Guys, it is OK! I have everything under control." reassured Buzzwordy while nodding his head gently.
He took a deep breath and began speaking in a powerful voice that resonated throughout the conference room.
"Can everyone hear me now?" spoke the marketing whiz kid with a high dose of resurgent confidence.
"Yup, your voice came across loud and clear!" shouted a small gang from the back of the room.
"Thank you all! Great, this is really great. Please allow me to introduce myself and my panel of experts here today. Before I get started, lets make sure that we are all in the right place. This panel session is called {How smart can a grid be?} and my job is to provide everyone in the audience with a wealth of information regarding smart grid so that no one will leave this room empty-handed. In the interest of time, lets get started right away. By the way, please save your questions for the Q&A portion at the end!" spoke Buzzwordy cheerfully.
"Alright!" concurred the audience.
He kicked off the panel by introducing his guests,
- Ty, a senior marketing executive from a tier-two utility company in the Michigan area. He waved at the audience as his bio's been read by Buzzwordy. It was obvious that Ty wanted to be on the panel since he came fully prepared with 10 pages of carefully written notes.
- Shellow, a research fellow for one of the large enterprise software companies in the San Francisco area never stopped grinning since entering the conference room. Her glistening white teeth almost blind sighted Buzzwordy.
- Blummy, a freelance writer covering hot and upcoming technologies kept twiddling his thumbs while Buzzwordy read his bio to the audience. He appeared to be somewhat uneasy and marginally gun shy.
followed by a brief introduction of himself.
"With the support of my honorary guests today, I would like to give everyone a brief introduction of smart grid. So what is this burgeoning technology all about? It is a two-way digital communication grid structure between an utility company and the appliances inside the homes of its subscribers or customers. A powerful software stack running on high-speed microcontrollers or microprocessors provides the needed intelligence to the grid. The kind of intelligence that will monitor the energy usage in a refrigerator, determine the best time to use a washing machine, ... etc." explained Buzzwordy.
He looked around the room and saw Xavia nodding his head. Guess what, he also saw Bif staring at the podium with his tongue hanging out - motionless and speechless.
"OK, so much for the brief technology introduction. As your panel host, I do have a list of questions for the panelists. Let me start with you Ty since you looked fully prepared. {As a key stakeholder in the energy sector, what will be the right business model for making smart grid successful?} Please proceed Ty!" asked Buzzwordy.
Ty fumbled through his notes looking for the answer but wasn't able to find the right one. His perspiration frightened Buzzwordy.
Buzzwordy wasn't sure what happened to Ty but he knew that the time was ticking.
The panel will continue on Day Twenty Three.
Buzzwordy
Day Twenty One,
You're finished!
Buzzwordy managed to catch up with the stranger in front of him but he was literally out of breath by the time he blurted out the person's name.
"Xavia, hey Xavia, I was not expecting you at all. Did Bif ask you to come and check me out? Guess what? I just bumped into Petro, the infamous magazine editor over there!" said the perspired Buzzwordy.
"Oh Buzzwordy, good that you are here early. Bif asked me to tell you that he is expecting a massive turnout for your panel this morning since you always have interesting things to say at conferences like this." replied Xavia.
"Understood Xavia. As usual, I will do my best. Since I still have another hour to burn, if you don't mind, I would really like to have some more discussions with you regarding the different smart grid technologies!" requested Buzzwordy.
"Buzzwordy, this is really your show and I definitely don't want to steal your thunder! If you need my help, I will see what I can do but smart grid is not my gig!" sneered Xavia.
Buzzwordy was disappointed with his boss's reply but respected his straight-through-the-heart answer.
"OK Xavia, unless you have something that we should discuss now, please excuse me since I must get ready for the panel." nodded Buzzwordy as he began to back away from his boss.
It was approximately 10 minutes before the start of Buzzwordy's "How smart can a grid be?" panel and he did not see any of his panelists outside of the conference room. His palms were sweating profusely and he couldn't stop checking his watch every 10 seconds.
"Darn, there is no one here and what the heck am I going to do?" complained Buzzwordy.
It was exactly 11AM and a show coordinator approached Buzzwordy with a serious look on her face.
"Hi, you must be Buzzwordy. I'm Serena. It is very nice to meet you finally. You and I did speak on the phone a couple of times before. By the way, the session before yours is running late and I'm afraid that you and your panelists won't be able to start on time. I'll keep you posted on the progress!" apologized the savvy looking show coordinator.
"Thanks for the heads up Serena. It is my pleasure to meet you as well. I think I will just wait out here since none of my panelists have arrived yet." responded Buzzwordy with a reluctant grin.
By 11:15AM, half of the panelists showed up and Buzzwordy just learned that the other half couldn't make it due to some last minute travel problems. He was feeling really upset and started to worry about how his panel would turn out with only half of the panelists present.
Then he saw Serena walking towards him steadfastly.
"Well Buzzwordy, I guess it is showtime for you and your panelists. The conference room will be opening up in just a few seconds. You and your guests should get ready to go inside." suggested Serena.
"Thanks very much Serena. Hey everyone, listen up, we should all go inside now!" gestured Buzzwordy as he led the way towards the conference room.
Once Buzzwordy situated himself atop a podium inside the giant conference room, a silver-haired man wearing a huge head phone walked towards him.
"Hi, you must be the panel moderator for this gig. Great! I just want to let you know that the speaker system is not working too well so you and your guests will all need to speak up during your presentation. Good luck!" chuckled the silver-haired man.
"Thanks for telling me. As you can see, this is a huge conference room and how do you expect all of us to talk at the top of our lungs for the next 50 minutes?" bickered Buzzwordy.
The silver-haired man shrugged his shoulder gently as he backed away from the podium.
Buzzwordy glanced over to where his panelists were and saw everyone's facial displeasure. His subconscious mind kept telling him that this panel was going to be a disaster.
"Good morning everyone. First of all, I must apologize ..." exclaimed Buzzwordy.
"We can't hear you in the back, you need to speak up!" yelled someone in the back of the conference room.
"OK, thanks for letting me know. Once again, good morning everyone. Can all of you hear me in the back?" yelled Buzzwordy.
"Hey, we still can't hear you in the back, you have to really speak up!" yelled someone else in the back of the conference room.
Buzzwordy felt awful and wasn't sure how to move forward with the show. He turned his head over to the far left corner of the room and saw Xavia shaking his head violently.
"You're finished!" whispered a voice from within Buzzwordy.
Lets see if Buzzwordy can survive on Day Twenty Two.
Buzzwordy
Day Twenty,
How smart can a grid be?
It was the night before the SMART GRID conference and Buzzwordy was feeling terribly jittery. He found himself pacing back and forth inside the hotel room, reciting all the notes that he took regarding the panel topic "How smart can a grid be?", and cursing at himself for not remembering half of them.
He sent a quick email to all the panel participants to request them to meet with him 10 minutes before starting the panel and everyone responded right away. Buzzwordy felt good for being in control of the situation since this was his first opportunity as a panel moderator even though he's been on many technology panels throughout his career. He knew that he had to turn in early so that he would have enough juice to conduct a successful panel tomorrow but he just couldn't shut his eyes for good.
"You'll pay the price in the morning!" bickered Buzzwordy.
At the crack of dawn, Buzzwordy jumped right up from his bed, took a quick shower, and headed straight to the conference center. He was half awake but convinced himself that he could handle the panel without a sweat. Getting a decent breakfast didn't quite appeal to him since his entire bio rhythm was thrown upside down due to insufficient sleep.
"Excuse me, do you know what time the conference hall opens up?" asked Buzzwordy when he bumped into a conference staff on the ground floor.
"Good morning sir, the hall will be opened in two hours. It is still too early!" responded the conference staff.
"Thank you, is there a place where I can rest my feet for a while before the hall opens up?" queried Buzzwordy.
"Yes sir, there are some benches on the second floor and you can take the escalator to go there!" grinned the conference staff.
Buzzwordy thanked this kind person and began his journey towards the escalator.
He spotted a few empty benches after arriving on the second floor and picked the corner one to give himself plenty of peace and quiet. He realized that the panel session was three hours away and he would have enough time to recite the notes again. He could feel his eyebrows coming down for a drink (aka feeling really sleepy) not long after he began to recite his copious notes. As Buzzwordy slumped his body back into the bench and started to slumber away, a heavy nudge to his shoulder woke him up.
"Hi dude, long time no see since we last met in Malaysia. I found out that you are hosting the "How smart can a grid be?" panel this late morning. I will definitely be there to learn something from you. Looks like you had a rough night!" greeted Petro, the tall and lanky magazine editor whom Buzzwordy bumped into when he went to Malaysia.
"Oh hi Petro! You really didn't have to wake me up. I just need another 30 minutes to rest my brain. I'll see you at the panel session, OK!" responded Buzzwordy in an unpleasant tone.
"Nothing to worry about dude. BTW, since we still have some free time before your panel, why don't you gimme an update about which way the smart grid market is heading to? I could put down what you are telling me in the next print! Great PR for you and your company, and I'm sure that your CEO Bif will love that. What say you Buzzwordy?" requested Petro.
"Petro, are you fishing for G2 (aka inside or secretive) information or just want to know about the smart grid market in general?" questioned Buzzwordy.
"Hi dude, whatever that you can offer to me will be appreciated. I'm simply hungry for new technology information. After all, this is how I get paid. How about just 15 minutes of your time?" pleaded Petro.
Petro's request certainly put Buzzwordy in the bind. If he chose to blow this guy off, the entire media community would crucify him but if he agreed to take on this interview unprepared, he could make a fool of himself given his mental state of unfitness.
Feeling unease and uncomfortable, Buzzwordy wasn't sure how to turn Petro's nagging request down. As his anxiety continued to build up, he felt like a fish out of the pond.
"Well dude, lets do it OK?" pressured Petro.
"Wait Petro, I just saw someone whom I must speak to now. You really have to excuse me. I must go and will see you at my panel session." responded Buzzwordy while grabbing his briefcase and chasing after someone down the hallway.
"OK then dude!" said Petro.
Who was that someone that grabbed Buzzwordy's attention? Lets find out on Day Twenty One.
Buzzwordy
Image via Wikipedia
