So there I was, sitting at a table at TechCrunch50 today, on the second day of the show, still struggling, like many others, with the erratic Internet access, having the connection go down on me umpteen times as I tried to get stuff, when suddenly the clouds parted and a light shone on me from Heaven — er, no, it only felt like that because I finally managed to access the Web and upload my story. From such little things does happines spring.
Later in the day, as I was back writing another piece and muttering about the Web access, I saw Jason Calacanis himself walk from table to table, cleaning them up while being followed by a staffer. Now, I’m all for democracy, one being, one vote and stuff like that, but what’s the point of being a boss and co-founder of a conference and having a multitude of minions if you can’t get them to do stuff like that?
It was not the best afternoon for Jason, by the way, because, as he was on his table-clearing rounds, he came upon three young men without TechCrunch50 badges. Which meant they had either lost them or snuck in. Jason, who is relatively small and mild-looking, promptly interrogated them about their lack of badges and got the staffer to escort them to the front desk, to either buy badges or leave. At least he had the sense to delegate that task.
I’m still wondering, though: Couldn’t Jason have got a member of his staff to do the cleaning up?