Waiting for Bill

Well, I'm in—standing at the back of an auditorium that seats 6,000... at an event that does seem to me now like it will exceed 20,000 attendees. The registration lines this morning were astonishing, a mythical beast with multiple tails snaking up and down the expansive corridors of this sprawling structure. I tried to take pictures, but it was one of those scenes that a lens just can't convey.

The west end of the third floor of the facility was choked this morning with people waiting for the auditorium to open. I knew I wasn't going to get in, but the breakfast buffet was on the other side of all those people. I managed to find a back way around the throng by going down two floors, and after finding six escalators that were all going the wrong way (on purpose, I'm sure), discovered an elevator off in a corner that took me right to breakfast... and to the far doors to the auditorium.

(I was just booted from where I was standing, which was a pretty good spot. I could have stayed if I was registered as Press. "Wait a sec," you say, "I thought..." Yeah, me too. It turns out that the badge they gave me doesn't have the press ribbon attached—doesn't give any sort of indication anywhere about what I might be—so as far as the local-chapter USGBC goons [an attractive and apologetic blonde woman] are concerned, I ain't nothin'. Heads probably oughtta roll, but I probably don't have a big enough lens on my camera to be taken seriously. And now that I'm over here in the rising mists on one distant side of this hangar, I really need some of that big glass.)

The preliminary speakers have started... self-congratulations, awards, sweeping statements, slick video clips. Spontaneous, though polite-sounding, applause. Surprisingly, there are scattered seats available, and people are still filtering in. Greenbuild old-timers know that the pre-speaker speakers do gas on, even though their time in the spotlight is usually deserved. Aldo Leopold's daughter is here; Rick Fredrizzi's mom is here. Home Depot is (again this year) honored for stepping up (hopefully it starts inspiring them to really step up). Autodesk's efforts in building information modeling. Affordable green housing. Transportation issues. More prisons are LEED certified than K-12 schools. Greenbuild(365) is broadcasting this session as we speak; I'm trying to connect, and hoping you're having better luck than me.

The room has a half-second echo. It's been over an hour. A few people are starting to leave.

And then...