So after a total of more than 14 flight-hours I arrived in San Francisco for my first stint at GSummit, the world's biggest event on the topic of Gamification.
It was then that I decided it'd be fun to post a daily update on the summit, if not for everyone else to read, at least for me to reminisce when I decide to attend next year! :)
It all started when I woke up late as usual and had to rush to the bank for my US dollars and to the airport for a check-in I was unable to do online. From the start I knew I was in for some serious time spent on bureaucracy while traveling, 'cause I was welcomed with a US Customs form I had to fill out before landing on US soil.
On my first excrutiating 7 hour flight to Philadelphia, I had a chance to work on my project for Gabe Zichermann's Advanced Gamification Design Workshop and to finish this book: The Lost Empire of Atlantis, by Gavin Menzies - an awesome breakdown of the myth of Atlantis.
In a methodical and pretty much no-nonsense way, Gavin Menzies basically proves that the myth of Atlantis was based on the awesome civilization of the Minoan people. This Crete based civilization was largely responsible for the technology boom of the Bronze Age and proof has been unearthed of their presence in all of the Mediterranean, Ancient Egypt, India, Britain, Germany, Norway and America. Yes, America. In 1500 B.C.
Their civilization blew up with the eruption of Thera's (Santorini) volcano around 1450 B.C. and with it so did the world's Bronze Age. Amazing book.
So, back on topic, upon landing in Phily I went through a two-hour long passage through customs and security for the transfer flight. Yup, a mixture of excessive security and lack of personnel made me wish for portuguese security, and that's saying much!
Next, I had the chance to grab some lunch at Chickie's and Pete's and was amazed to find out that this was a "small side of fries".
They grow'em big here in the US!
Anyhoo, I slept most of the way from Philadelphia to San Francisco and checked-in easily enough at the hotel. Only to find out that I forgot to buy a European to US socket adapter. How idiotic is it that we need to use different sockets? Makes as much sense to me as using Imperial measurements... :D
Now, while posting this, I'm wrapping up my preparations for tomorrow's workshop and hoping I do not oversleep due to jet lag. So here's to me resting up and stay close for tomorrow's update!
Cheers!
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