AT&T… we have a connection!

I bet you thought I was going to talk about my phone, huh? Well, I’m not. Okay, maybe I am – a little. We have been having major challenges with our cell signal at the house. AT&T just can’t seem to keep us connected no matter what they do lately. I think it’s because instead of fixing our cell tower, AT&T has been putting all their resources into the AT&T Executive Education and Conference Center in Austin, Texas.

I've stayed in this hotel before, and again it was a wonderful place to stay while attending a conference. The conference rooms were excellent and the breakout refreshments were very nice. My room was comfortable, quiet, had a great work desk, and fast internet. Our group had a couple of very good evening meals (and more than a few drinks) in the bar and were served by a great bar staff.

Now let’s talk about those new-fangled energy efficient light bulbs.

If I have anything negative at all to say it would be that the lighting in the room was a little dim for my taste. I appreciate the energy efficient lighting and the fact that it softens the wrinkles when I look in the mirror… but it would’ve been nice to be a little brighter when I needed to put on my makeup. Even soft wrinkles need a little help when you get to my age.

Don't mess with Texas

Texas loves slogans. Texas Proud, Texas: It's Like a Whole Other Country, and Texas: State of the Arts among others. But my favorite is Drive Friendly the Texas Way. It received my vote for the most amusing, because if you've ever driven anywhere in Texas you're probably laughing with me at that one right now.

Then a while back, some Austin advertising guys decided that all Texans should forget about that friendly stuff and embrace their inner Bubba. They introduced us to Don't Mess with Texas. It was originally created as an anti-littering campaign slogan, but the attitude struck a harmonious chord with native Texans and was widely embraced. Now it is much better known than the actual state motto: Friendship. Friendship. Really? Bubba would not have approved of that one.

So, what does all this have to do with hotels? I wrote my first draft for this entry while sitting in an Austin hotel a couple of blocks away from the Texas State Capital. The Capital building is really pretty, especially at night. And it has a Don't Mess With Texas kind of feel to it. In fact, the whole city sort of feels that way.

When I found out I was going to a conference in Austin I had no problem staying in the host hotel, The AT&T Executive Education and Conference Center. If you've followed this blog you'll know that I've stayed at almost all of the Holiday Inn properties in Austin. I finally gave up on finding the perfect "Holiday Inn home-away-from-home hotel" in the city.

The AT&T Executive Education and Conference Center in Austin, Texas is on the campus of the University of Texas at Austin and made attending the mandatory conference a real pleasure. The room was spacious, the bed was just right, and they had fast wireless internet. It was wireless, and it was fast. I had to pinch myself a couple of times to see if I was dreaming, but I was awake. The hotel scored a perfect 10 on that account alone. If they take reservations for regular hotel stays I'll most likely make this hotel my next choice.

Maybe I need to come up with a slogan for my hotel experiences. How about Don't Mess With My Wireless, or Sleep Friendly, the... ? Okay. I'll stick to my current profession and leave slogan writing up to the advertising guys.

Slogans are important to Texas. Really good ones define us. They tell our story.

Austin's slogan is "Keep Austin Weird." I thought it was just a cute little catch phrase until I drove by a sign for a local restaurant. The sign read "Arab Cowboy: Cafe and Hookah Lounge. I think Austin got it right. The city wears the title well.

It makes a Texan proud.