I'm going to count for something in Australia

I'm currently enjoying the Australian "winter" as I travel around the region talking to SAS customers for the SAS Insight Series. It just so happens that I was in Perth, Western Australia for Australia's Census Night. Because I was in the country on this special day, I was compelled to complete a census form. I found my form in my hotel room in Perth (perhaps left there personally by the Australian Statistician), and I was expected to turn it back to hotel reception, completed.

I was happy to complete the form and thus become a statistic in Australia's permanent census records. In addition to being sort of a geeky story to share at home, it gave me something to talk about when I met with the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Like most of the national stats organizations, the ABS is a big SAS shop. They are also a large beneficiary of the census process, which happens once every 5 years here in Australia.