The Dunoon/Georgia Connection in San Francisco
I love this blogging world. Where else can moments like this seem to keep happening? I keep getting blown away by such moments. A couple of weeks ago I found out that since NECC was in Atlanta this year my travel budget was letting me attend another conference. Several searches later I found a conference in San Francisco that fit the bill with what I wanted to learn. I only had a week to make it happen and the fares were out of sight. Yikes! I have some travel funds but they weren’t going to stretch to cover expenses with fares topping out at 5 or 600 dollars. I tried Hotwire for the first time and found an incredible fare through some special offer. You have to book it before you know the schedule but they guaranteed no more than one stop and that you will arrive on the same day. I went for it and lucked out with a non stop out and one stop returning with a fantastic fare of $269 round trip. I took that as an omen that I was meant to go and little did I know what was going to unfold. The conference has been absolutely awesome. I’ll be blogging about it for a while because my schedule has been jammed packed with some of the best sessions I have ever attended. I haven’t had many moments to stop and blog but the blogging will follow over the next few days. I want to share.
Then to top of a spectacular few days this comment arrived on my blog from Ewan McIntosh, one of my most favorite Scottish edubloggers.
My mum’s in SF, too! If you want to hook up send me/her an email . In the meantime I’ll find out where she’s staying and when. I’m sure she’d find it cool to meet up if you’re both around long enough.
Another comment followed:
She’s there from Friday well into next week. Drop a line if you want to meet her up for a drink or a meal - she’s up for it!
Wow! I was up for such an encounter! Ewan’s mum Chris and I have struck up a cyber friendship through our mutual love of teaching and learning. She is my kind of blogger. I love her spirit and think she has a voice that needs to be heard. She connects with my students and really makes a difference through her excellent comments on their blogs.
So Chris and I connected through numerous emails and had a smashing good time last night eating at a great restaurant, the Palomino, right close to the Golden Gate Bridge. (The website doesn’t do this restaurant justice so try it out if you are in San Francisco.
I also got to meet Ewan’s dad John. He’s pretty special too. 
Chris and I described ourselves to each other and met in the lobby of the Hyatt. You can tell from the pictures how much fun we had. You would have thought we had all known each other for years. We had great conversations ranging from family, to W, to stateside driving, to blogging, to learning, to education, and oh I could go on and on. It was non stop and so much fun. I find it incredible that our paths crossed in San Francisco and that we had the chance to meet up. Chris and John came back to my room so Chris could blog and write some emails. It was sad to part but I can’t help but think that we’ll meet up once again. Meanwhile we’ll keep connecting through the blogging. We took time out for Chris to record a podcast for my kids so I’ll be able to take this special connection back to share with the kids. How cool is that? Take a sneak preview here:Chris.MP3 The kids will hear it on Tuesday. They will love it! Where else but in cyberspace and how else but through blogging could such encounters occur? Good on you Ewan. Now how are you going to top this? Chris coined it as one of these strange flukes of fate that seem to accompany Ewan’s activities, I say bring on some more of those moments Ewan. It was grand!
February 4th, 2007 at 6:04 am
I’m so glad things worked out so well. I spent the weekend with people I read but don’t see often (Hugh Macleod, the UK’s no. 1 blogger) after yet another moment of serendipity. How does all this happen? If the students want to get the most out of *writing* their blog they just need to *read* as much as they can and as quickly as they can. After a moment you start to see a bigger picture or a detail that can be exploited to create something new - like a dinner for two old/new friends!
February 8th, 2007 at 11:38 pm
Anne, it was great to meet up - an evening to remember! We’ve now left SF and are with friends in Virginia - friends with a Mac in the room next to ours! So instead of going to bed I’m working off the time-lag with a few mails….
We thought Atalanta was HUGE as we passed through today - and we thought of you, somewhere in all that, blogging away with your kids. A huge place, but a shrinking world!
September 12th, 2007 at 12:24 am
[…] Ewan’s mom is pretty cool. Not only a blogger, grandmother and former educator but one who understands connections. I remember Anne Davis blogging a while back about hooking up with Ewan’s Mom in San Francisco. I remember reading it at the time and thinking, this is pretty cool and serendipitous. Here Anne, travels to San Francisco, when Ewan, from Scotland sets up a meeting between Anne and his Mom, or is it Mum?, who, also from Scotland happens to be in S.F. Wild stuff. […]
February 7th, 2008 at 3:34 pm
[…] My only complaint was that I didn’t get to have dinner with Chris and John. That was such an added bonus last year! I did make a silent toast to them as I enjoyed my “Chop Chop” salad one evening. The other […]