If you're like me, you're rife with anticipation for the Inside Self-Storage World Expo, March 1-3 in Las Vegas at the Paris Hotel and Resort. Yes, that's less than a week away.
Self-Storage Talk, the self-storage industry's largest online forum, is taking the party from the Web to the Strip. The expo's cocktail reception will serve as an SST meet-up. Stop by to see what the mysterious individuals you chat with online look like in person.
The reception will be from 5–6:30 p.m. on the second day of the show. (See the full agenda here.) A handful of tables will be designated for the forum meeting, so look for the table tents branded with “Self-Storage Talk.” The food and drink are bound to be outstanding, and everyone is welcome, even if you aren't a user yet. Perhaps meeting the crew will encourage you to register and join the fun. If you are an SST member, come introduce yourself by your username.
In addition to the cocktail reception, you can also participate in the Self-Storage Talk roundtable, hosted by yours truly, on Monday at 5:30 p.m. in Champagne Room 3. Here you can sign up for a chance to win a $15 Visa gift card. On Tuesday and Wednesday, come say hello at the Self-Storage Talk Lounge, next to the Inside Self-Storage booth, during the exhibit hall hours. The SST Lounge is the place to discuss forum issues, ask questions, tour the site or just hang out.
For those of you unable to attend the show, you can follow the events by visiting the show's dedicated forum on Self-Storage Talk. You can also follow ISS on Twitter—@selfstoragemag—and I'll be posting updates throughout the show. The official Twitter hashtag of the show is #issvegas, so if you're going to tweet anything related to the expo, include the hashtag in your 140 characters. I'll be doing the same, which means we can create an “issvegas” topic in the Twitter search function.
I'm eager to reconnect with some of the forum pals I made in Washington, D.C., in the fall, and I can't wait to meet new ones. As unique and anonymous as online forums are, it's nice to have a face to go with the username.
See you on the forum—and in Vegas, too, I hope.