Tonight I’ll be in London, and tomorrow it’s atmedia 2005. I can’t wait. But knowing myself as I do, here are ten rules I know I should abide to when I get there:
- Don’t show off as a French guy in the streets of London, especially when the station you arrive at is called Waterloo (France and England have a long history).
- Stop asking for directions every second street: start learning to read maps instead of bothering people (yes, even if you take gret pleasure in speaking english: people have lives of their own, too).
- Take half-pints when the English take pints. They have much more training.
- Don’t ever mention any referendum (for instance about, say, a European Constitution of some kind), especially after several iterations of the preceding point.
- Stop saying your English is poor in the hope that someone will congratulate you when you can actually hold a decent conversation.
- Don’t go "YESSSS" any time a speaker gives a hint that you’re already using daily. This is not a bingo, it’s a seminar.
- Don’t yell like a madman.
- Don’t do silly things: namely don’t run around like a beheaded goose (what people in your office have become used to after several years is not considered normal social interaction out of the office).
- Don’t act as a groupie: speakers and panelists are not rock stars.
- In general, don’t do anything that you’d be ashamed of if it was blogged about (300 people in this kind of event means 300 bloggers).
That’s about all I see for the moment. I think I’m ready to leave now.
