Wow, where to begin? Maybe what I learned on my 2 week business trip/vacation Down Under? Okay, here goes:
1. I love Australia - what an amazing country! The city of Sydney is as wonderful as NYC. Great public transportation, food, shopping, and amenities that are so friendly to families and those with physical disabilities.
2. I love Australians - what amazing people! When I think of the history of Australia and compare it to the founding of America, it makes sense that we felt so at home among the locals. We all come from European roots; underdogs and persecuted folk who needed or were forced to leave our homeland for a new world full of hardship and adversity. Those of us who live today are the hardy stock that survived and we are resilient and independent and hardworking thanks to those ancestors. The women are so stylish. Not sure if fashion moves from west to east like the weather, but if it does, I can tell you ladies that the color black is going to be very in for fall and so are tall riding boots. It's winter in Sydney right now and the ladies were mostly dressed in black and I saw riding boots and other varieties of tall boots on so many women. Personally, I love both, so I really am hoping that the fashion I saw in Sydney is headed our way for fall.
3. Airlines should consider charging full fare for babies. You knew I couldn't get through this post without saying something controversial, right? After spending a 13 hour flight with 2 children under the age of 18 months (I've been told that children of this age difference are affectionately referred to as "Irish Twins"), I can tell you that it is unfair to the other passengers in the row, not to mention unsafe for 2 children of this age to be sitting on the laps of their parents. In a row of 4 seats, there were 6 human beings. I wasn't aware until this flight that there were only oxygen masks for 5. From a space perspective, it was not fair to the children or the other two adult passengers to have to have endured the situation either. I'm sorry, but if you can't afford full fare for your child to have a seat and oxygen mask, then you probably shouldn't be making the trip - at least not a trip of 13 hours. Okay, enough of that soapbox speech. Those of you who know me know that I don't get all mushy over babies anyway...I find the possibility of them being contagious too high to risk holding them and smelling their sweet little heads. Never seeing another baby on a flight would send me into waves of delight that I can't even put into words. While I have felt this way for sometime, particularly after Orlando flights, I've now become adamant about it after enduring 13 hours of crying every 90 minutes by one or both of them with regularity of which one could have set a clock.
4. 15 days of close family time is just too damn much. I love my husband and son with all my being BUT...there is truly such a thing as too much of a good thing when it comes to family time. Maybe this is due to the fact that I'm a girl and they are guys, mentally of which they are both approximately 15 years of age. There's only so much rugby a girl can take, only so much farting that a girl can take, only so much non-stop tourist activities a girl can do. The true measure of a quality vacation to me is how many straight hours can I plop myself down on the beach and read, followed by a nice long afternoon delight (aka NAP). The Keating men judge a vacation by how much they can possibly pack into a day. But as if these differences weren't enough, most of you who know me at all know that I am the most reclusive person in my personal life. I could easily be left on a deserted island and as long as I had good reading material, I'd be perfectly content. Next year it's a house boat on Lake Raystown with a duration not to exceed 7 days.
5. The Kindle works in Australia...YAY!!! Vacation book tally - 5. I'm positive I had an excellent vacation because I managed to read 5 books; 4 in totality and 1 I'm still working on. First, "A Dog's Purpose" was just the very best book I've ever read in my life. I know it's cliched, but I laughed, I cried, I cheered, I read it cover to cover without ever putting it down aside from bio-breaks. "Me of Little Faith" had me laughing out loud numerous times. At this point, I've come to view arguments over religious denominations as absurd. This book solidified my opinion in a very humorous way. Just as we would laugh if people were to argue the virtues of Santa vs. the Easter Bunny, Lewis Black has a way of making one think without being preachy. Read it if your faith (or lack thereof) is strong enough to laugh at the absurdities of your own faith with the same gusto as another. Another book that had me laughing loudly out loud was "Shit My Dad Says". I understand there now is a TV show based on this book, so some of you may be familiar with this. What made this book so special for me is that it proves that an outspoken parent with strong opinions can successfully raise a successful child to adulthood. As a mom with a big mouth and lots of opinions about our world today of "fairness" and "self esteem" and "helicopter parenting", I do worry that maybe I'm a bit too curmudgeonly. I worry that my kid could end up needing years of therapy to recover from our strict rules, my outspokenness, my black and white opinions. While I'm sure I'll continue to worry, this book shows that as long as it's all done with lots of love and legitimate praise, the kid will be just fine and most likely succeed beyond my hopes and dreams. Since my husband was reading "Justice: Crimes, Trials, and Punishments" and raved about how good it was, I downloaded it too. After a few pages, I realized that I had read it before, but it is so good that I re-read it. He spent a bit too much time on the OJ trial for the second time I read it, so I skimmed that mostly, but it truly was worth the second read. Finally, I'm still working on "Cyberwar". I had been told by some colleagues that I highly respect that this book was a "must read". I have to say that I couldn't agree more! Anyone who works in computer security certainly must read this book. So far, I think the scariest part of this book is the serious and in-depth analysis that it gives regarding the "Smart Grid"; that wireless system that eventually all our homes and businesses will be interconnected to for measurement and management of our electric usage. I just had to scratch my head and wonder why it is that in this day and age, if something has an off/on switch, why is security an after thought at best and never even a thought at all at worst??
6. Reclamere is the greatest place to work on the planet. I wish for my son to have a job that he misses while on vacation. While I couldn't wait for vacation to get away, after the first 5 days, I couldn't WAIT to get back!! One of the greatest things any of us in life can aspire to have is a job that we truly love. During my absence, we have really interesting forensic projects come in. I was so bummed to be on the other side of the world and not be involved in them. On the other hand, I was so impressed with how our team never missed a beat without me. Guys like Jason, Tom, Bud, Kevin, Joe, and the account managers kept it all going and their skills in project management was so impressive. One of the most difficult things for a business owner to ever accomplish is letting go - hire people better than yourself and then give them the resources they need and get out of their way. When a business owner has a team like this on board, letting go is so much easier - never easy, but certainly easier. Thanks team.
7. Getting the flu after vacation is a great way to get over jet lag and lose your vacation weight. Unfortunately, on my first scheduled day back, I was flat on my back with a bug. While putting me further behind, this was particularly awful timing as I was scheduled to tag team with Jason on a training session on e-discovery and computer forensics for a major client. I had been looking forward to this project ever since we were fortunate enough to have been awarded it. I personally like the client contact very much and have a very high professional regard for him. Being awarded the project was a tremendous honor and teaching this course for his team was so exciting for me. Much thanks to Bud who jumped in and took on my portion of the class at the last minute. Jason, professional that he is, didn't miss a beat and adjusted the curriculum at the last minute. A little bird told me that the class went very well. I had no doubt. Thanks for bailing out the boss, guys! You are the greatest!!
8. NAID Australasia has an incredible future ahead. While the flights to and from Australia stink unless you are in first class, I am so very glad that I decided to accept the invitation to speak at their conference. Demonstrating that it truly is THE global leader in information destruction best practices, NAID hosted a great conference in Sydney. While we were there to help teach and share information about our profession, the NAID Australasia members taught all of us great information about what they need and expect from NAID to grow and thrive in their corner of the world. The Australasia region has tremendous potential. While this region lacks many if the data privacy and/or data security regulations that we have here in the states, it is clear that this region is home to many US and European based companies. These companies are demanding that uniform standards for best practices in secure destruction be implemented, regardless of the lack of formal regulation yet in the region. Some members in attendance seemed to think that regulation is a magic bullet to further the profession of secure information destruction. I hope our time with them helped them understand that regulation is only one small component of furthering the profession. Awareness, NAID certification, and targeting companies that truly value protection of information will be the greatest ways to promote and further our profession in the region. Thanks to NAID and the generosity of its long-time members with their time, I am certain that those members in the Australasia region are in the hands of great mentors should they seek them out.
9. NAID has some great leadership. While I've always know this, I was reminded of it once again. Our current president, Jim Beran of Shred Right is going to leave some mighty big shoes for Ray Barry to fill next year! Not to take anything away from Tim Oberst of Ohio Mobile Shredding, because that guy did one hell of a job and was also kind enough to take time to attend NAID Australasia and share very valuable insights on growing the business. I think I've just had the time to get involved more with NAID this past year, thus have more involvement with Jim than any of the other past presidents for whom I've had the honor of serving. Speaking of Ray Barry, this guy rocks! Now, in the interest of full disclose and because I never miss an opportunity to tell a funny story...when I first met this guy way back in 2003, I thought he was just another pretty face still a bit too cocky from his days as a frat boy! LOL!!! It didn't take me long to realize once I got to know him that this dude is one sharp guy. (Don't worry, Ray; some of my best friendships started with me thinking that someone was a cocky smart a$$ when I met them - just ask Joe Harford, one of my business partners!). I've sat through Ray's presentations before and always learned a great deal. And to show you how much I value his counsel, I was offered the opportunity in Sydney to leave the conference after my presentation on the last day and go hang with my family in the sunshine. I opted to stay and hear Ray again. And even though this was the 2nd or 3rd time I'd heard him on the topics, I still took a page or so of notes. If you are a NAID member and you are on the fence about attending the 2011 NAID Conference, seeing Ray present is worth it! He's a sales guru!! While I'm not sure if the slate of speakers for 2011 have yet been set, I know he has been one of the most popular presenters in the past, so I'll be shocked if he's not back for 2011. And while Jim's shoes will be tough to fill, I have no doubt that when Ray takes the reins of NAID as our next president, he'll accomplish great things!!
10. I can't wait for the NAID 2011 Conference!! Okay, so I'm really bummed it got moved to Orlando thanks to the flooding in Nashville this summer. I would rather have a root canal withOUT Prince Valium than fly to Orlando. Being stuck in a metal tube a mile high in the sky with screaming children and helicopter parents is SOOOOOO not my idea of fun. But the resort looks amazing and I always learn enough at NAID conferences to justify the return on investment of my time and money. I've had the honor to speak and be a panelist at many NAID conferences in the past. I would love to speak about quality control programs for hard drive sanitization and/or basic data security for data destruction professionals. Are these topics any of you NAID members would like to hear about? As an information security expert with certifications in privacy, information systems auditing, and information systems management, I think I've got the horsepower to bring some great insights to the membership. We NAID folks do a lot of preaching to our clients about data security and privacy, but sometimes I wonder if we are getting all the help we need on taking care of data security and privacy in our own companies. Or as it relates to hard drive sanitization, do we have quality control systems in place that are robust enough to withstand courtroom scrutiny and/or prevent data breaches? If you think these are topics you might be interested in, drop an email to our illustrious CEO of NAID, Bob Johnson. You can find his email on this page (I would have linked directly to his email, but the spammers would have slammed him and I like Bob too much to do that to him).
Well, as usual, I've rambled on far too long, but also as usual, hope I've given you lots to chew on, argue with me about, and taught you a few things too.
No comments:
Post a Comment