This is who we are, this is what we do...

(in case you need reminding)

Perhaps you have ventured back into your professional world full-tilt now that vaccines and boosters are freely available. I certainly would have said I had — but now I know that was a lie. Professionally, I have (mostly) always worked remotely unless needed to be on a location so that bit wasn’t much of a shift.

Not an intentional bold-faced lie but regardless, not the complete truth. The majority of presentations given by me over the last two years were remote. As easy as this sounds, if you have ever stood in front of an audience of hundreds and then been restricted to just a blinky light—you know they aren’t even close to being the same.

Last week I drove to NASA at Langley and spoke to rocket scientists, data scientists, and a host of other professionals dedicated to Open Science. Completely out of character, I hadn’t read the directions for accessing Langley Research Center as a non-NASA employee. I had to u-turn back into the small building with the sign clearly directing outsiders to where our pre-authorized badges were waiting. Also because I was driving on the base—I needed to have my driver’s license not simply my passport that nobody cared about.

The soldiers checking credentials at the gate somehow manage to be authoritative but personable. As it was now my second attempt to gain entrance I was greeted as an old friend.

I never realized how many ‘new buildings with a lot of windows’ were visible until I was given directions to pull into the parking lot fitting that description. If you have read this far I think you can predict me ending up in the wrong building ‘with a lot of windows’. But in my defense, NASA buildings don’t set up little workshop signs and tables—you need to find your way. And coincidentally being invited to speak about location intelligence isn’t a guarantee that you won’t roll in disoriented and lost, like a complete noob.