Here I sit on the floor outside the exhibit hall, writing my last blog entry from Philadelphia. Last year was my first SBL conference, this year seems to be much so much busier than last year. I haven't found time to do the touristy things; I haven't even had time to grab a Philly cheesesteak! Oh well. I think the crispy duck Eli and I had in Chinatown last night was a better choice than the cheesesteak.

I've had a great time, though. At the top of the list was meeting several bibliobloggers. I won't do a round-up of the session. For that, see Tyler Williams' round-up; I think he covers all the bases.

(Just saw Jim West walk by -- so now he's a visual witness to this post!)

I did get to meet an awful lot of bloggers, and they were all polite and encouraging. Here's the quick list — apologies if I forget some. I don't have a whole lot of time, so I'll type the basics now and add the links later. Or hit the blogrolls on the side to check out individual blogs.

Jim West (Biblical Theology) — Since I just said hello (and goodbye) to him, it seems he should top the list. I'm still astounded by the sheer number of posts that Jim gets out.

Joe Cathey (Dr. Cathey's Blog) — Joe a genuine, polite man. I enjoyed our conversation before the biblioblogger session and look forward to catching up with him again at future meetings.

Brandon Wason (Novum Testamentum) — I think Brandon was the first blogger I met here, here happened by the booth on Friday morning and we were able to talk a bit there. His level of excitement for blogging and concerning the things he blogs about is encouraging to me.

Mark Goodacre (NT Gateway Weblog) — It was great to shake Mark's hand and speak with him in person. And Mark, I really do appreciate the gracious intro you gave me before the paper; and the encouragement along the way with early drafts and such. Thanks again.

Jim Davila (PaleoJudaica.com) — What can I say about Jim? His paper was enjoyable to listen to. As I've said before, it is probably the only time I'll present a paper alongside Jim and for that I'm happy and grateful. I met him originally at 2004 SBL, and I'm already looking forward to seeing him again in 2006 in Washington DC.

Torrey Seland (Philo of Alexandria Blog) — I enjoyed my time with Torrey too. On Sunday night, Logos hosted a dinner for folks involved in projects we have under way or have released. Since Torrey has had some involvement with the Philo Concordance Project in Norway, he was invited to attend. We sat next to each other, and it was nice to have an extended conversation. He asked me about my view of authorship of the Pastorals (to sum up my view: Paul is the least worst option). He sounds like he's really busy teaching. So, Torrey, remember to make time to golf and relax!

Christopher Heard (Higgaion) — Like Chris mentioned about my blog, I don't read his daily (check it weekly, I guess) but it was a pleasure to meet him. Knowing a little more about him makes me think I should read it at shorter intervals. It was a pleasure to meet you, Chris.

There are so many other people to mention — and that's just the bloggers I met! I was able to talk with a bunch of other people too. And that's the great part about these conferences. You can catch papers by people whose books you read, ask them questions and interact with them.

Cheers to all, and best wishes for safe travel home to your families. If you're in the states, enjoy your extended holiday weekend!

Update (2005-11-23): Made it back home, no problems or issues. Was in bed at 2:30 AM (5:30 AM Philly time!). I mentioned earlier that I was sure I'd forgotten some people. Here are some I've remembered in reviewing this post, apologies again if I've skipped over my conversation with you.

Michael Pahl (Stuff of Earth) — I think Michael and I saw each other in transit between sessions more often than not. It was a pleasure to chat in those in between times. Best wishes on the dissertation, it sounds most interesting!

Peter Williams (Evangelical Textual Criticism) — I have this poor stereotype of textual critics as old, bearded and stodgy people. I mean, think of any picture you've seen of Westcott, Hort, Swete and Lightfoot. Imagine my surprise when I saw Peter present his paper for the Textual Criticism section. It was very good. I had the opportunity to sit next to him and chat a bit over a dinner we were both attending as well, and his charisma, charm and wit were more than evident. Also, sorry I didn't make that meeting at the Oxford booth on Monday afternoon; I had a lunch that ran really late.

Stephen Carlson (Hypotyposeis) — I actually noticed I was standing next to Stephen on an elevator in the Marriott on Saturday night. I was with Matt O'Donnell, Randall Tan and Catherine Smith. He was with ... well, I forget now. But there were like 10 seconds between the time I noticed and the time we got to our floor (had to install some stuff for the OpenText.org stuff Logos is working on) so I didn't bother introducing myself knowing I'd see him the following day. And I did, a few times. Thanks for your work, Stephen. I'm looking forward to reading more in the years to come.

As I said, I'm sure there are more. If/when further conversations and meetings come to me, I'll update this post.