I arrived in Nashville tonight for the Killer Nashville conference at the Hutton Hotel. I really know nothing about this event, having only read about it on the Internet several months ago. It seems to be of relatively recent vintage, having started only a few years ago. I used to live in Nashville during my music career and I hadn’t been back since 1984, so I decided to give it a shot.

It started this morning with a phone call from American Airlines telling me my Key West-Miami-Nashville flight had been canceled “due to weather” in Miami and rescheduled for tomorrow. I called them and after waiting 24 minutes for a human being to get on the line, I got a Delta flight for about an hour later going from Key West-Atlanta-Nashville. Atlanta, of course, should be avoided at all costs, but there was nothing I could do. It was the only way to get here today. After sitting on the plane at the gate for 30 minutes with no air conditioning, we finally took off.

Anyway, back to the conference. I’m on a couple of panels. One is “Maximizing Conflict” and the other is “Making it Real, Cutting the Fluff”. I like the topics very much, although I’m not familiar with any of the other panelists. The moderators seem to have things well in hand, though, so I’m looking forward to participating. Frankly, I have a sneaking suspicion that every panel will eventually veer into a discussion of the digital revolution. I hope I’m wrong.

Also, the hotel is very nice. From the outside, it looks like a holdout from the seventies. The inside, however, is another deal entirely. Every inch has been remodeled. The front desk, for instance, is actually two desks situated opposite the front entrance. The rooms have original artwork (or what looks like original artwork), and the bathroom is not like any hotel bathroom I’ve ever seen. The bed area looks pretty noir. I love the red lampshades.

Okay, the hotel gets a gold star. Now let’s see how the conference shakes out. It starts tomorrow.