A Conference to Remember!
It was the mid 2011 when I proactively sent a conference paper to an international conference in Dubai. I always wanted to experience such an event (i.e. an international conference) and therefore, was really besides myself with joy once the conference paper was accepted in the ERPBSS (Emerging Research Paradigms in Business and Social Sciences) organized by the Middlesex University at Dubai in late November 2011.
Here is my picture once I got out of the airport after landing in UAE for the conference:
Like usual, I packed Shelly along with my luggage in this trip! This trip was a conference experience for me while it was a holiday for Shelly.
Shelly’s vacation began! Here is Shelly ‘chillaxing’ (chilling out and relaxing!) at the balcony of Hotel Pullman, Mall of the Emirates:
The conference was held at Hotel Pullman, at Mall of the Emirates in Dubai. As I said before, I tagged Shelly along with me while I went to the conference. The hotel was quite nice, and I was impressed by their greeting style. Once we checked in, the television screen in the room read the following (the welcome address/greeting from the GM of the hotel in an indicatively personal way!):
The ambiance of the hotel was also impressive. The view of Burj Al Arab at a distance from the hotel was also nice. Here’s the picture that I clicked from the hotel’s balcony:
Here is the picture of the glitzy hanging illumination at the lobby in the upstairs where I used to browse the Net for free via Wi-Fi:
I really loved the ambiance here (pictured above). Every night I used to make use of the Wi-Fi here to catch up with emails, Social Media and YouTube videos of my favorite show (catching up on TV however, was a very rare episode of my life yet the show was utterly fascinating that I used to be glued to it, even across the miles!).
Every day during the three-day conference, the quick breakfast used to be a tensed episode lest I run late!
Here is what I used to have during a regular conference day, the Pullman breakfast before my everyday errands, i.e. before leaving for the conference sessions every day...
Once the conference was on, the day I was about to present, Shelly went outside to have a sightseeing tour via Dubai Metro and I was all by myself. I had to face the tensed course of time myself.
None was there in my room while I dressed up (for success! ;-) ) before my presentation! So I took my own picture before I left for the ‘battlefield’; naturally I was nervous and gloomy :-( due to the tension I had inside me. This is a ‘selfie’ while I got ready and was about to present in about an hour... At that time I didn’t have any smartphone, so I clicked the ‘selfie’ with the camera I had. Yes, I really do look despondent here... with the tension and all! But, thanks to Allah, my dear God, everyone loved it and it ended with a huge round of applause!
Once the conference was over and the audience present liked my presentation, it was a great relief! I asked one of my fellow presenter colleagues to click my picture. This was the only picture I had at the venue on the day of my presentation:
The conference was jam-packed with presentations each day. Here is a picture of one of the sessions in one of the venues:
While writing this blog post, I have been looking back and feeling really nostalgic about the good times in the conference there!
Of all the good things, the breakfast was really awesome:
Here is the picture of the conference proceedings of the ERPBSS, the UAP (The University of Asia Pacific, my work place) business card holder, and Hotel Pullman collateral:
Once the conference was over with a successful paper presentation, I decided to treat myself with London Dairy ice cream from the Mall of the Emirates food court! You should check out any variety of London Dairy Ice Cream if you happen to be in the UAE.
Once a bit free, I used to take a stroll through The Mall of the Emirates:
The hotel ambiance was really nice, except for a few service exceptions. Here is a snapshot of the view of the hotel entrance that I took while I was there:
I hope you enjoyed this bit of conference experience I shared with you! Catch up with you later. Please remember to check out my blog post on dune drive/desert safari expeditions.