I actually made it to Orlando
Saturday night, but I was too pooped to do much more than slither into my room
(I’m staying at the LaQuinta, so called “on international” but really much more
on Jamacian Court)
and go to sleep for a big day on Sunday.
Sunday morning provided time for a leisurely breakfast
before wandering over to the OCC – North/South for registration.
Survival Tip #01:
Register early. If you didn’t register on Sunday, expect long lines and
equally long wait times this morning. There’s 12,000 expected for the show and
regardless of how many people they have manning the booths, its going to take
time. A do and don’t. Do take photo ID, you’ll need.
Survival Tip #02: Pack light. Don’t bring a heavy bag
loaded with a bunch of goodies with you. You’ll be getting one – a pretty nice
one too -- loaded with materials from the show sponsors, and chances are good
you’ll be getting more stuff than you’ll want to lug around when you visit the
vendor area.
Back to Sunday. After registering, I took the shuttle bus
back to my hotel. Okay, great deal for me since they extended the route to
include the Inn of America and my LaQuinta on route 8, so I don’t have to lug
myself over to the Embassy Suites.
Survival Tip #03:
This is not a good place to fear Escalators. And I do. Do if you are going
down to “the pit” (main conference area floor, I guess, first level anyway)
note that you have to go up to level two to go down to level one. There are
elevators to left and right, but they are slow and small. Give yourself plenty
of extra time.
Sunday afternoon, I hoped a cab over to the Peabody. Now the first rule of successful
cabing is to expect its going to be expensive. The short ride from the LQ to
the Peabody setme back $8 plus tip.
Survival Tip #04:
Walking distance is by Microsoft standards. Supposed two of the hotels: The
Peabody and the Rosen aren’t getting serviced by the shuttle busses because
they are within walking distance of the OCC. Yeah. Maybe if you’re a 100 to150
pound stick using to talking 10 miles a day. I’m neither of those. So when
somebody says to you, oh that’s in
walking distance, size them up and decide for yourself if you’re likely to agree.
Your mileage may vary. Considerably.
So why did I go to the Peabody?
For a Microsoft MVP get together. Quite a good show, actually. Sean Driscoll,
the executive “owner” of the MVP program gave a good talk, showed us the new
logo and made me hungry for BBQ. What’d doesn’t though. We then had the opportunity
to sit and talk with folks from the MVP program, folks from the DevTeams and
field force folks. Overall, that was a pretty good experience for me. The
closing reception was also very nice. A very good cheese station, a sushi
station (the Tuna, though, made me long with having Pok’e with Janell) and
plenty to drink.
Survival Tip #05:
Drinking, drinking and waking up. Okay, so I’ve said this before but really
here’s just three things you really have to understanding about fluids consumption
here in Orlando.
#1, its hot and humid, you’re going to sweat so you need to make sure to drink
plenty of plain old water. Its everywhere at the OCC, in plastic bottles
smartly bearing an AMD logo. Snatch two bottles each you to go the well. The
first is to drink immediately. The second is to have for later, trust me, you’ll
want it. Then there’s drinking. Fine, so I’m naturally inclined to recline with
a malty beverage. To excess sometimes. So, here’s the trick: Before going to
sleep for the night or a even a couple of hours, take a multivitamin with a
good load of Vitamin B, some asprin and drink as much water as you can. Where I
did get this advice? From Home Brewing. You won’t wake up ready to light the
world on fire so much, but you will wake up feeling ok if you over did it the
night before.
After the MVP functions, I wandered over the OCC with DonXML and attended "Staff Training." Pretty interesting, and the guy that did the ambassador training was great. Can't wait to try some of this stuff out.
The night ended when I managed to catch up with the crew
from HDR corporate IT for dinner. Why am I telling you that? Because Survival
Tip #05 is the only reason I was able to slither out of bed this morning and
write this rather long-winded post.
First business first this morning: congrats to me and my
darling Janell, as we will soon be first time home owners! Found out about 3:00
EDT yesterday at an offer we made on a house in Northwest Omaha had been
accepted and we’ll be moving. Personally, I couldn’t be happier about this: the
house is huge and the yard is larger still. Seriously, it’s big enough that we
could have a very serious Pig roast in the backyard and still have plenty of
room inside for those for those not so interested in braving the heat.
But most of all, I’m very proud of Janell who to the endless
hours of hunting, researching and doing the paperwork; who navigated the Byzantine
system for getting the mortgage loan and who, I must say, can really wowed me
with her ability to stay on a task that’d be far to skittish about to make a
good go of it.
More news and photos as they develop.