Duh Byuke

That's how you say it (Dubuque). Although I did like the Canadian pronunciation - Duh Buke. I've been there since Monday. I'm thinking of relocating there (okay it's just a fleeting thought). But what a cool city! (Except it IS on the dark side where everything is Hawkeye).

This year's annual Recycling and Solid Waste Management Conference was in Dubuque. Colleague Scott Flagg and I drove up there Monday afternoon and set up the DNR booth.

The DNR displays are brand new - and now I don't even need an engineer to help me put them together! They are like window shades. The old ones involved magnets and assembly. See the orange thing on the table? I forked over $5 of my own hard earned money for pretzels to lure people in to our table...since we don't have swag like other vendors do. And yes, I went around and gathered swag from other booths to distribute to my supervisor and key staff for bonus points when I get back to the office. I'm a suck up, I admit it. Plus I just like the joy of giving - especially when I got the stuff FREE.  

There were some great speakers at the conference, including the gal from the City of Ontario - who pronounced Dubuque so delightfully. This morning's session was about social media - using Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and the like to further the cause of your organization. Yesterday our Bureau Chief Brian gave a DNR update, and a state senator from Dubuque talked about legislation she's sponsored on recycling.

The downside of representing the State of Iowa at this conference is that I can no longer party like a rockstar at this event. In the olden days, when I just represented Adams, Taylor and Union Counties, I used to tip a few. Just a few years ago in Dubuque as a matter of fact, Christine, Jeff and I drank our way up Main Street in Dubuque Night 1 of the conference. We went to a place called Paul's Tavern - where 60 year-old mounts of long ago hunted animals are located. Last night, co-workers Laura, Scott and I went there for 1 beer. Yeah, that's my limit now - I figure I can party on non-work nights. After the Tavern (3 beers $4.65), we hit an Italian place that was really good.    

This morning I took an early walk around downtown Dubuque. The sun was just coming up, and I saw things that I'd never seen before, despite all my years of hanging around NE Iowa. After all my Paul is from Earlville - not too far from Dubuque. And I did do the tipsy walking tour a few years back. Here are a few photos I snapped.

American Gothic - as seen at the Art Museum

 There were so many cool architectural shots - wished I had a real camera, not just my Blackberry. But the emerging light was part of the beauty. Our consultant for a project I work on is from Dallas. She does talk about moving to Dubuque. I can see why!