The Week that Was

I have been trying to figure out for the last three days how I was going to capture the events of the past week in my blog. I drew charts and diagrams, made notes and lists all in attempt to determine how best to present the latest collection of Jill Stories. The problem was that each day seemed to branch out into several sub plots and triggered memories of stories from the past. In the end, I decided to separate the stories by day, and to delay release of each post so as to not overwhelm my readers. I will start with Wednesday.

Wednesday, September 27, 2006

It was finally here. After months of meetings and preparations, the 2006 RSH Conference was finally underway. Wednesday was the first day of sessions but I had only booked Thursday and Friday off work. Aside from the opening speaker on Wednesday morning, Dr. Richard Heinzl, founder of Doctors Without Borders Canada, I knew I wasn't missing much. That evening however was dinner at The Old Spaghetti Factory with a Murder on the Menu performance. I arrived early and helped out with the set up. By 6:00 the delegates started to arrive. I was quite surprised to see that there was actually a number of guys showing up. My experience has been that volunteer work in general, and RSH specifically, is more popular with women, especially the middle aged to older variety. I said a silent prayer of thanks when a Brad Pitt type walked in. Tall, dimples, and good style. Things were starting to look more and more interesting that evening.

I seated myself at a table with my old boss from The Agency, along with my former client. They were talking business and I got a pang of nostalgia for the days when I was part of it all. It was another instance of me being transported back to 2004, about the third one that I noticed that week. The murder mystery actors started filing in and chatting with the guests. It was set up to play out like a live, interactive version of Clue, complete with characters such as Viktor Klien, Pearly Blancs, Professor Plumber, Miss Flamingo and Sargent Poupon. Pearly, a 70s love child who had consumed far too many pharmaceuticals as a teen, was distributing props at random. I was the recipient of a pair of round frame sunglasses. Mr. Brad Pitt received a pair of aviators, which he tried on and wore very nicely.

The performance was pretty interesting, the actors were great at staying in character. Near the end of the night, each person gave their alibi to the inspector. I don't remember how it worked into the storyline, but Viktor Klien announced that he had a talent for spotting celebrities. He found Liza Minnelli and also made the guy who I picked as Brad Pitt stand up, but he called him David Beckham. Then he pointed at me. I was super excited and nervous at the same time. I just hoped I was someone good! As I stood up he introduced me as the star of Bridget Jones' Diary and Cold Mountain, yes, I was Renee Zellweger! I played it modest and took a gracious bow. Here I was, a stranger to 95% of the people in the room and my first introduction to them was as a Hollywood starlet, not a bad start. Next was Pearly's turn for an alibi. Again, I don't remember how it worked into the story, but she announced that she was going to need a little help from her friends, which was a cue for all the people who had received a prop from her, to come up, put their arms around each other's shoulders and chant, "All that we're saying, is give peace a chance" while swaying side to side. I was so in my element. This was fabulous.

After dinner I decided to check out the hospitality suite. The suite was a cozy room with food and an open bar just for the conference people. Each night we had planned a different activity and that night was a Texas Hold'em tournament. I had no interest in the poker game, but instead focused my attention on a Michael Buble look-alike. Black suit, white shirt, good shoes--nice. I pointed out my observation to someone else who informed me that his name was in fact Mike. I watched his hands as he drank his beer and talked with the other guy delegates. No rings. Yes, at that point the conference just got WAY more interesting. I could hardly wait for Thursday.