Next week’s WasteExpo 2010 in Atlanta will mark my 18th year in attendance…not a record by any stretch of the imagination, but one that puts me closer to the top than many.
I arrived at my first event like a hungry big-mouth bass, ready to listen to and believe anything I was told, and too proud to admit to my informants that I was clueless as to how the business worked or who was important.
Luckily, things were different in those days and my ignorance was undoubtedly lost in the hustle and bustle of the show floor crammed with products and people, all of whom seemed to be clamoring for attention. While I was supposed to be paying attention to the former, it was the latter, replete with gold-encrusted Dons escorting short-skirted and high-booted sweet patooties that garnered my attention. Among the many, there was one wearing a white silk suit, black shirt open to the belly-button, sporting a gold chain with links larger than those used to restrain afterburning jets during engine run-up, who stands out in my memory to this day. While he issued a constant stream of orders to his very attentive cadre of henchmen—retinue in other times and places—a pair of fur-coated, dare I call them floozies wiggled and gyrated round about him, smiling to their admiring audience while brushing unseen specs of dust from their host’s gleaming attire.
Those days are lost and gone forever, replaced today by investment-savvy business folks well versed in the green agenda befitting today’s waste management realities. WasteExpo 2010 in Atlanta will likely be remembered for its no-nonsense business dealings, technical coursework, and serious conversations on the show floor—as it should be—but darn, I wish someone would zip down to central casting and bring back a couple of godfathers and their entourages if only for old times sake.