Adult supervision required

This is day three of a professional conference I'm attending as a sales/marketing representative of my startup. This is a great conference for us because there are a lot of potential customers here: it's like someone took our list of the executives we are hoping to entice to join our membership program on sustainability and slipped them each a mickey, dropped them through a trapdoor and brought them here for us to talk to. It has been a very interesting week so far and I've really appreciated being here, getting a chance to talk to these executives and hear the content at the sessions. One thing I can get a little self-conscious about is that people sometimes perceive me to be young and they don't regard me as a peer professional. Short of giving up wearing sunblock, I've done everything I can think of to compensate and put my most adult foot forward.

Last night after the conference dinner a group of people stayed out to have a drink and continue the conversation, and of course I didn't want to miss out on the chance to meet and spend time with more potential customers so I joined as well.

This was slightly complicated by the fact that, to save cash for the business, I am staying with my mother who lives here in Chicago, but out in the burbs. She had generously offered to come get me and I was mid-sentence when she called to say she had arrived.

"I've got to go," I said.

There was a pause.

"My mom is here to pick me up," I blurted.

Dammit.

Next conference I may as well just wear pigtails and a high school uniform.