A little humor goes a long way

There's always an air of apprehension clouding the entire exhibition hall on the last day. (If you've exhibited at the conference before, or any other conference for that matter, you know what I'm talking about.) Vendors eye one another waiting for the great tear-down.

But vendors not in plain sight tear down around lunchtime, ignoring show organizers' instructions to stay open until official close at 2 p.m.

And then comes the domino effect. By 1 p.m., half the exhibitors are demolishing their booths and crating their stuff. By 2 p.m., the fork lifts arrive to cart stuff away, and the exhibit hall staff begins pulling up the carpets.

Joe Pikas provided some levity to the long week. Yesterday, at our booth, he had us rolling in the aisles with his "Professor and the Driver" joke. This telling won't do it justice, but here it goes anyway:

A professor came up with a revolutionary technology to solve global warming. He decided to tour the country presenting his idea to investor groups to fund his start-up company.

He hired a chauffeur to schedule his talks, take care of the arrangements, and drive him to meetings.

At each stop, the chauffeur would stand at the back of the room while the professor gave his presentation and answered questions. After the first half-dozen lectures, the driver said to the professor, “I’ve listened to your talk so many times I could give it.”

The professor, feeling a little run down, called him on it. At the next presentation, he stood at the back of the room while the driver presented.

When someone asked a very pointed technical question that the driver had never heard before, he hesitated for a moment. The driver then said, “That question is so easy, my driver will answer it for you.”

A little humor goes a long way at the end of a grueling week.