In April of 2024, I was fortunate enough to be sent to a week-long communications-based conference in Palm Springs, California by my full-time job.

The conference itself was amazing. Where I work, no one in my office has a similar position, which can be a little isolating at times. However, at this conference, there were hundreds of people with positions similar to mine. It was so refreshing and inspiring. I came back feeling creatively energized and full of new ideas to implement.

During the day, I spent my time in sessions absorbing as much knowledge as I could. At night though, that’s when this conference really shone. I will continue to maintain that there is no better way to network than organic activities. So that is what I did, cram every possible organic networking activity that was physically possible into my time outside of the conference sessions.

It really helped that the rental car company was out of the mid-size sedan I booked, and I ended up with a black Expedition XL, tinted windows and all. It looked like the secret service rolling up anywhere I went, but I could cram a lot of communicators in that thing.

My first day started with leaving for ATL at 5am, running into the first woman I’d meet on the trip by finding out that we were actually on the same plane. We were on the same plane going home at the end of the conference too, which was fantastic.

In-N-Out & Joshua Tree

Before the conference even started, a handful of us ladies planned a trip to In-N-Out and Joshua Tree. None of us had ever been to In-N-Out, so this was a fun treat.

The cheeseburger I got tasted like a combination of grilled cheese and a burger. If you know me, you know how much I love grilled cheese. Of course, I had to get a milkshake, a simple strawberry one. This was a pretty inexpensive meal, and a great introduction to California after a long day of travel.

After our milkshakes and burgers, we headed off to Joshua Tree, racing to get there before the sunset.

Joshua Tree is an international dark sky park, which basically means on a clear night you can see all of the stars. Luckily, it was a clear night. Also luckily, I’d remembered to bring a sweatshirt to California with me because it was COLD in the desert at night. We got some beautiful pictures of the Joshua trees at the sunset and into the night. We even got to see the starlink satellite go across the sky. I’ll tell you, if I one of the women didn’t know what that was, I would have fully believed I’d just seen a UFO. After a few stops throughout the park to take lots of photos with my handy tripod and the camera settings I’d been practicing for weeks leading up to the trip, it was time to head out.

If you ever choose to go to a National Park at night like this, make absolutely sure that you have the ability to read a map, a good sense of direction, and other people with you. Even with all of that, there were times that I was almost sure we were lost.

The Living Desert Zoo & Gardens

One night I met up with a group of people from a couple of different states, loaded everyone up in the giant rental car, and went to The Living Desert Zoo & Gardens for an awesome nighttime event called “Glow in the Park”. This event featured tons of bright, colorful lanterns intermingled with the botanical gardens & animal exhibits. They even had interactive areas where you could make music and all sorts of things.

We arrived at the park just in time to see a few of the animals in the light, like the giraffes, before the sun went down and the lanterns lit up. This was such a cool experience, seeing all of these animals that are thriving in this desert environment.

I do wish that we had arrived a little earlier so that we could see more of the botanical gardens aspects, checked out the model train, and ridden the carousel during the day.

They boast over 150 species of animals, and the animals all seem to be really well-cared-for by people who genuinely care about their well-being, not just a profit. In fact, Living Desert Zoo & Gardens is a non-profit.