Sometimes jobs feel repetitive, and you know you'd like to learn new things -- but how?

Well once in a while, it's as simple as recognizing the opportunity. Here's an example:

A couple of weeks ago, we hosted a users' conference (sorry if you weren't invited). It wasn't a huge thing with hundreds of thousands of attendees in Las Vegas -- it was a couple of hundred people coming to Boston (yes, Boston in January -- now that's commitment!).

So to pull it together, then to pull it off, required a lot of people doing a lot of planning and work. Or, you could call it opportunity.

As a company, of course, the conference was a hit. But as individuals, a lot of people learned a lot of thing about planning and organization, especially the whole field of event planning and conference organization.

It was a great opportunity for a lot of us to do a lot of things, and especially to learn about what goes into a successful event (it's a lot harder than you might think!). And some people who lent special skills (first-class photography or event organizing, for instance) really got to shine.

I bet things happen at your company all the time that provide similar opportunities. If they do, tell us!