Another year, another pilgrimage to Omaha… It went really well: the flight was completely full but devoid of crying babies, the weather was random but pleasantly so, and Buffett and Munger shared their invaluable advice for hours and hours. According to my notes, they answered 52 questions (give or take). Charlie Munger was far more talkative than he was at the past conventions – he said “I have nothing to add” only once! For an 87-year-old man, he seemed to be in great shape. Here is hoping we’ll all age so well…

I spent most of the Q&A period frantically writing down everything Buffett and Munger said – partly because I wanted to review these notes in the future, and partly because I thought I could compile them into an ebook. Fortunately for everyone involved, Ben Claremon from Inoculated Investor saved the day by posting a very detailed transcript of the Q&A session. Click here to download Ben’s transcript.

The convention’s exhibit hall featured the same attractions it usually does: there was BYD’s electric car, huge section with Buffett-related books, etc. The Coca-Cola booth featured a smart fountain machine that can make sodas with different flavors (for example, strawberry-orange diet sprite), but instead of letting people play with it like they did last year, this time around they just lectured about its features. They did, however, have an amazing mascot: a 7-foot-tall polar bear with fur that felt disturbingly real and whose face actually moved. It was almost surreal – just like cartoon characters drawn against “real world” surroundings in “Who Framed Roger Rabbit.”

On Friday, the day before the convention, there was a book signing at the University of Nebraska, Omaha. (The locals insist on pronouncing the acronym “U.N.O.” instead of the more logical “uno.”) The event featured pretty much every book written about Buffett, Munger, Ben Graham or value investing in general, with the glaring exception of perhaps the noteworthy book about Buffett – his controversial biography written by Alice Schroeder. Either that was done on purpose, or Schroeder didn’t want to meet hundreds of Buffett’s fans, since it’s no secret that a lot of them hated her frank portrayal of their idol.

There was also a small discussion panel on value investing that was put together by the UNO’s business school students. This was the first time I ever heard about it, even though it’s an annual event that started in 2009. I should have done more googling before my trip, because I missed a series of lectures on value investing that was held at the UNO on Thursday. Just another thing to keep in mind for the next year’s convention…