This is my 10th year of attending Sage conferences and I’ve yet to be disappointed in the content, the venue and the people involved. On occasion, they can even arrange for the excitement of a tropical storm to pass our way and lend a little credibility to the overall agenda.

Last night, we were treated to a visit to the Georgia Aquarium, the world’s largest and most engaging aquarium, according to their website. What interested me most were the promises of the presence of the only whale sharks in captivity outside of Asia and the only 2 Manta rays in captivity. I was not disappointed.

The evening started in “the belly of the beast”, the Atlanta Marriott Marquis hotel. Certainly no “beast” in the traditional sense, but a feeling of being Jonah inside the whale when one considers the interior architecture of the building and its surreal, ribcage-like appearance. I wonder if architect John Portman was perhaps a fan of HR Giger’s alien imaginings when he created the building.

From there, we were treated to the driving rains and howling winds of Tropical Storm Ida, recently blown in off the coast from her brief reign as Hurricane Ida. The 10 foot walk from cover to the bus drenched us to the bone, as though tossed through the blowhole of the whale.

Entering the Georgia Aquarium is like being transported fathoms beneath the waves. The massive glass viewing window dwarfs us landlubbers and we are awestruck by the sheer beauty of the underwater realm we are so privileged to witness. Sea creatures of all shapes and sizes drift by, apparently in slow motion, unaware of or unimpressed by our presence. In short course, out of the darkness appears the massive shape of a whale shark, flying towards the glass. A giant Manta ray appears beneath, flying low to the ground, massive mouth agape and moving softly back into the shadows.

Every turn of a corner in the aquarium held new treasures and experiences, more fantastic food and drink and great memories to be made. It seemed fitting somehow to end the evening in the company of pirates, considering we had survived a visit to the depths of Davy Jones’ Locker and returned unscathed.

So what does this have to do with reporting and analysis? Nothing. I suppose I could have made some bizarre leap to try to imagine someone at Sage using a spreadsheet to calculate attendance and food and and … never mind. That would have been a little gratuitous and frankly, we simply had a great time.

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1. Hello 2009
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