That headline is a lie. I'm not going to be able to attend NTEN's Nonprofit Technology Conference (NTC) next week, and I'm feeling pretty grumpy about it.

Fortunately, NTEN is doing a good job of providing channels for remote participation:

There are also plans for offering conference sessions through webinars, live streaming, and live blogging.  Kudos to the NTEN team, and to all the other folks who are collaborating to make that possible.

Still, it hurts to miss the conference, because not being there in person means that I can't engage in my favorite activity, which is standing around in the hallways and persuading people to talk to each other.  When 1,000 or more of my favorite colleagues get together, I'm overwhelmed by some sort of inspiration or compulsion to introduce them to each other and to point out how it would practically be a crime if they failed to collaborate with each other.

Perhaps next year there will be a special Altruistic Busybody traveling fellowship for people like me.  We do have our uses.  I'm tempted to grumble "Hey, just try to have a successful conference without me.  When you all go home this year, having failed to forge new professional relationships that permanently transform your lives, that's when you'll really miss me."  However, I'm not that bitter.  I really do wish NTEN and all the attendees a wonderful conference experience.