Apologies to all who I’d wished to chat and catch up with at the OMMA West conference yesterday. Unfortunately, my day was cut short by an unfortunate incident. I was typing away in the WiFi lounge, and, when I started to pack my stuff up, I was shocked to discover my purse was missing. I thought I’d set it on the floor as I worked, but it certainly wasn’t there any more. I re-traced my steps, thinking maybe I’d mistakenly set it down somewhere. No dice. A call to hotel security (and a chat with conference organizers at the registration desk) revealed no one had turned it in to Lost & Found either.
It’s crazy because, though of course I miss my beloved cameraphone, what I’m more upset about is some greedy stranger poring through pictures of my innocent little nieces. I’m angry that my personal data — on credit cards, a checkbook, plenty of tiny scraps of paper, etc. — is in someone else’s mitts. I just feel so… violated… like it rocks my happy little world in which 8-month-pregnant women are treated nicely, rather than as easy marks for theft.
Anyway, I’ve done the usual cancelling of credit cards, etc. It’s not the things so much as the data and information — and the sense of human goodwill and security — that I’m upset at having stolen from me.
Meanwhile, I saw lots of folks I would have loved to say hello to, but I never got a chance for scrambling around talking to security and heading home to call my bank. Sorry I missed you!
P.S. Special thanks go to my Jupitermedia colleague, Lisa Nadler, who came through with the loans of a cell phone and enough dough to bail my car out of the parking garage. You were a lifesaver.
P.P.S. Not to sound like an American Express commercial, but my new cards just showed up, via UPS, at my door, less than a day after I reported them missing. What excellent brand reinforcement. The messaging on the mailer surrounding the new card: “You needed It. You got It. It was our pleasure to get you your new American Express Card as quickly as you needed it…”
UPDATE: The Fairmont just called. They’ve found the purse. No wallet… and no telling what else exactly is missing. But the keys are there, as is the mobile phone, strangely enough. Happy that at least some things — and probably many of the personal, rather than financial, items — have likely been recovered. The purse itself was a gift, too, so it’s really good to hear.