Flashback: Mapping Conference

I was thinking about some of my experiences as a mapping specialist and I dredged up a bizarre occurrence.

1999 at mapping conference in San Diego, sitting in a training class with 50 other mappers from all over the country. Trainer is showing off how his company had all kinds of market info down to the neighborhood level that they had from all kinds of sources. Ok, very uselful if we ever got our paws on it (6 years later we are starting to). A Mapper from one of our Texas offices raises her hand for a question. Goes something like this, "Are you concerned about this information getting into the hands of the Anti-Christ?"

At this point the hamster that has been keeping pace on the wheel in my brain stops, lights a smoke and says "duuuude." Collectively the rest of us were hoping that she wouldn't repeat this answer when the trainer asked her to clarify it. I know he heard the question, but like the rest of us he had gone past the "Deer in the headlights" stage we normally have with surprise and had gone to "Deer impacted into grill on Ford F150."

She confirmed the question, apparently concerned that Satan's minions would take advantage of the fact that the 300 Block of South Main Street made a lot of purchases at Home Depot. The trainer to his credit, sidestepped the obvious bizarreness by saying that the info was not very detailed and was mostly about buying trends in an area.

Certain people, usually those who outwardly appear to be a bit off, would seem to be the most likely candidate for this type of question asked in public. Here you had a very professional looking woman who was as pleasant as can be when you talked to her, not a frothing at the mouth wacko.

It was just a weird experience and reminded me of the old judging a book by its cover saying. I had forgotten about that for a long time, must have been the open bar after the great buffet diner.

I miss those conferences.