BBS 2013 Day 3

Greetings!  A much calmer day today in the realm of BBS 2013.  I had the opportunity to take some time in the morning to visit a few friends in Milwaukee, and then it was right back up here to Ripon and afternoon rehearsal. In some ways I dread Monday and Tuesday, since band rehearsal directly conflicts with two of the special discussions and sports. I typically lose about half the group during this time, and those who do manage to make it come almost 45 minutes late - hard to prepare for the larger pieces at the end of the week.

I was pleasantly surprised, though, that I had about 60% make it today.  Wonder what tomorrow will bring. 

The assembly went well - our speaker tonight did much better than last nights, and then the citizens were off to start campaigning and prepping for County elections.

BBS 2013 Day 2

Today was first real day of Badger Boys State - meaning, it was the first day that the guys were put in charge of running their own cities (with the help of their counselors).  This is a watershed moment, really, in the entire week - before this point the citizens probably didn't understand what was going on and what to do. Walking into Storzer and seeing one county working on electing a party chairman brought back fond memories - I was a city party chairman when I was a citizen.  Just going through the process of putting yourself out there in front of a whole room of guys that you don't know was a little unnerving.  I'd like to think that it made me a better public speaker and not afraid to stand in front of a group.  But for some of these guys this is the first time they've had to do this - eye-opening!

The band did an excellent job on the spot tonight - we got done with our three numbers and couldn't start the festivities because a county was late.  So we pulled another number out and went with it.  After that we had to do it again, this time with an unrehearsed piece.  I'm glad that the caliber of players in the band every year gives us some flexibility - they really did an excellent job!

Tomorrow are City elections and County party conventions...let the campaigning begin!

BBS 2013 Day 1

Hello again from Ripon, WI!

My travels have taken me back to Ripon for the 2013 installment of Badger Boys State - has it already been a year?  A lot has happened for me in the last year, but I'm happy to have the opportunity to be back and work with the citizens and counselors again on another terrific experience in government and leadership.  I'm also proud to see all of my friends from the various American Legion posts throughout Wisconsin - always grateful and thankful for their service.

From the travel side of things, I took the "winding" road back to Milwaukee from San Diego, hitting two of United's hubs along the way (SFO and CLE).  Was the cheapest option - and I ended up in first class for two of the segments so I wasn't going to complain.  I can't say that I ever fly through Cleveland, but I took the miles this time - the price was right.  Mucho gracias to my family again for picking me up from Mitchell, and after a short drive I was here.

Day 1 is always hectic - registration, initial rehearsal, and the first assembly.  I chuckle to myself as I see the guys come in and through the line - most have this look on their face of "why am I here again?" and don't know what to expect.  Little do they know that by the end of the week, it will be a completely different story! 

After three hours of registration, I had my initial band sign up: 93.  Down a little from last year's all-time high, but still respectable.  I hurried to get the rest of setup done, grabbed quick food, and soon it was time to start in on the music.  The first rehearsal is slightly nuts - most are late, don't know what we're playing, etc etc, so we started almost 10 minutes past time.  No worries though - after two times of running through the BBS State Song, we were on the way!  This group is very talented, and I'm excited to see how things go the rest of the week.

Sunday's rehearsal will be a bit of a different story - the schedule always has band practice conflicting with special topics discussions, so I'm going to lose people at rehearsal for the next few days.  A challenge.

Stay tuned for more - the weather has held so far!

Next step

I'm very happy and proud to report that my dissertation draft has been accepted by my Chair, and has been forwarded on to my committee ahead of a planned defense in a few weeks.

Almost done!!!

Hyatt and MGM Resorts new partnership

I'm always looking for fun possibilities of where to use my Hyatt points, and TPG and Hyatt have just shared that Hyatt and MGM resorts will be partnering, starting on June 20th, 2013.  I haven't made a trip to Vegas in a long time, but this presents a possible conundrum for me as I've been a very loyal Total Rewards customer in the past.

The following tier levels are highlighted:

Category 2
Excalibur
Category 3
Luxor
Category 4
Monte Carlo
New York-New York
Category 5
MGM Grand
The Signature at MGM Grand
Vdara
The Mirage
Category 6
ARIA
Bellagio
Mandalay Bay
THEhotel at Mandalay Bay

I'm not sure yet what location may work the best for me, but I know it won't be at the Excalibur - the place was a zoo the last time I stayed there.