While I enjoyed my time at both the ETS and SBL conferences and was able to see a few sessions of personal interest, the fact remains that my employer paid for my trip (thanks, Logos!) because they wanted me there to talk about issues of Greek syntax at both conferences.

You may have seen this signage on the back of the Logos booth:

That bit about Greek syntax on the left? That's one of the (seemingly many) major projects I've been working on for the past year. We've made a whole lot of progress implementing syntax databases inside of Logos Bible Software. One of our primary guidelines in working on this stuff has been, simply, "you've got to see it to understand it". So we've been concerned both with visualization of syntax information and searchability of syntax information.

A colleague and I have been blogging about syntax and Logos' implementation over on the Logos Bible Software blog. Check out the syntax category for a review of what we've been working on and how it functions in the system. We'll be blogging more about syntax in the coming weeks as well as this stuff gets closer to public release.

This same colleague and I presented papers at the ETS conference on the issues of Hebrew and Greek Syntax within Logos Bible Software. Those papers will be available on the Logos web site (and the blog) hopefully early next week; I'll post a notice here as well to keep y'all up to date.

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.

After much build-up and much writing/revising on my part, it's over. I gave my paper on biblioblogging this morning and I think it went well.

It was really cool to meet other bloggers, hear some voices, shake some hands, and interact in real time and space. What a treat.

Thanks to all the folks who participated: Mark (fearless leader and moderator), Jim (probably the only academic context I'll be able to present a paper alongside Jim Davila), the balance of the panel and the folks in the audience. And to folks at home who helped with the paper, encouraged, and prayed (Mom, Dad and Amy and her family, particularly). And thanks everyone for the kind words of feedback.

To those who were at the session -- don't worry, I'll change that 'i' to a 'cite' when I get back.

I'd write more, link some more, and review some things, but others have done that and I have to get back to my room, drop some stuff off, and then make it to dinner tonight.

Oh, and watch out -- Brandon Wason (Novum Testamentum) has a digital camera with him; who knows where those photos will show up.

So, I probbly won't be making daily posts, but I figured since I was sitting on the floor outside of the exhibit hall mooching off of convention center wireless that I should at least write something.

I was able to attend papers from the New Testament textual criticism seminar this morning, and that was very cool. Good stuff, for the most part.

Bought another book -- this one from Peter Lang, "The Use of PAS in the New Testament." Has some stuff specifically on 2Ti 3.16 as well as other areas of the Pastorals. Should be helpful in the Pastoral Epistles project.

Meetings filled the afternoon, as well as booth duty. And there's dinner on the schedule tonight and hopefully sleep after that (after reviewing the paper for tomorrow morning's session, of course).

Gotta go -- if you're in Philly, drop by the Logos booth (in the 900 aisle, across from Eerdmans) and say "hi".

So, I had every intention of making Donald Hagner's paper on interpretation in the Apostolic Fathers, but by the time I found the room where the paper was being read, it was too crowded to get into. I hoofed it back to the convention center and sat in a few papers. One was Donald Fairbarin on Patristic Soteriology. Interesting stuff. The other was John Hutchison on Martyrdom and Suffering in the early church. He had some interesting stuff to say about Ignatius, and some thought-provoking comments on suffering as fellowship with Christ.

After that was a bunch of meetings -- impromptu and otherwise -- with all sorts of people.

In between all of that, however, I found time for a quick browse of the book aisles. I had promised myself I wasn't going to buy anything today, but then I found myself at Wipf & Stock. There were two slim volumes that jumped out at me. Together I spent less than 20 bucks on 'em, so I figure I did OK:

Francis Xavier J. Exler, A Study in Greek Epistolography: The Form of the Ancient Letter. I justified this one because, well, the Pastorals are letter, so looking into form is something that is important.

H.B. Swete, The Gospel of St. Peter: The Text in Greek and English with Introduction, Notes, and Indices. This was partly due to Stephen C. Carlson's clarion call to pursue critical editions of things, and partly due to some other factors I won't discuss here.

Anyway, a good day. But a tiring day. Hopefully I'll get some sleep tonight. 

After dodging a thunderstorm in Houston and arriving a little late to Philadelphia; I'm in Valley Forge.

On schedule for tomorrow: A paper on the Apostolic Fathers from Donald Hagner; and we'll see what happens after that. Morning will be early. Of course there are meetings, etc.

If you're at ETS in Valley Forge, feel free to stop by the booth looking for me. We're on the immediate left when you walk in, booths 2 & 3, as I recall.

Oh, BTW -- Mount Rainer was beautiful. We flew so close to the snow-packed peak that I thought I could touch it.

Folks --

I'll be on the road all day Tuesday. I hope to blog from the conferences, but I don't plan to have much structure. That is, I won't be giving daily wrap-ups. I believe I'll have internet access at my hotel(s); it all depends how bushed I am from the day's duties.

Big days for me: Thursday I present a paper on Greek Syntactic databases at ETS. Sunday I present the biblioblogging paper at SBL.

If you're at either (or both) conferences, make sure to stop by the Logos booth and say "hi". I may or may not be there, my schedule is filling up fast.