In reading Mónica Guzmán’s fantastic book “I Never Thought of It That Way“, she shared the idea of sobremesa. She tells it like this:
My favorite word in Spanish has no translation in English. It’s the word “sobremesa.” It refers to the conversation that follows a meal while everyone’s still sitting at the table (“sobre” = over; “mesa” = table).
She goes on to explain how some of the best conversations she ever had were in this kind of setting. It got me thinking about some of my favorite conversations ever, and many were off to the side of larger events. Most conferences have great speakers and great content, but the “hallway track” between speakers (or sometimes instead of them) can be fascinating.
The most vivid of these was from WordCamp Atlanta back in 2016. Late in the event, I was caught up in a conversation with Brad Iroff during lunch and we made the specific decision to skip the next session and just keep on talking. I consider that one of the best decisions of my life, not just because of how brilliant he was when we talked, but also because it was the last conversation I ever had with him (he passed away suddenly a few weeks later, seven years ago today).
Pasillopista
Doing a straight word-for-word translation, “hallway track” becomes “pasillo pista“, and it’s exactly what we missed out on during the few years of COVID and virtual conferences. I attended quite a few virtual events, and spoke at a couple, but it’s just wildly different. People attend for the content, which is great, but you lose all of the in person chit-chat afterward and I’m so glad to have that back.
I love me some pasillopista and I look forward to lots of it as this year wears on.
