The MMS 2011 Closing Party #mms2011

Closing parties have been the hole in the MMS armor the last few years.  And, while the MMS 2011 event was not great, it wasn’t horrible, either.  Our group waited to monitor Twitter to see how early attendees would rate the event.  Early reports suggested it was worth dropping by.  Unfortunately, on the way to the party, there were streams of people stampeding back to the hotel.   That wasn’t a good sign.  However, the party wasn’t bad at all, despite having a country western theme.  The food was tasty – probably the tastiest food we had all week long, almost as if they saved the best food for the conference until the very end.  There were BBQ chicken legs, potato wedges that you could self-load with an array goodies, corn on the cob, chili, etc. – all “Texas Western” fare.

There was a live band playing, mostly country hits, but the music was too loud to stand and talk without shouting at each other.  I’ve never been a fan of not being able to hear the person right next to you.

The party room was laid out into various areas, where folks could generally find an area they liked.

There was the NCAA men’s game on a big screen:

An area where a cowboy and cowgirl were giving tips on how to handle the lasso rope:

The Barnyard, which housed the Customer Evaluation Program folks:

A honkeytonk-style billard area:

The band area with dance floor. At a place like this, though, there’s too many “dudes” to make this a valuable area:

During the event someone was dropping these leaflets off on tables. Pretty mean, if you ask me:

And, on the way back from the party, there was a special sign put up: