Day 1 Recap

Day 1 at Insight 2009 is behind us now and it was a good day, by all accounts. After breakfast, we started the day by attending the huge general session which started with a fairly cool 3D presentation (hence the glasses above) and moved right into the business of kicking everything off. Some awards were presented, and two guest speakers trotted out to make impressions in very different ways, the first by detailing her company's use of Deltek's accounting software to overhaul the way they go about their business of building more effective artillery for military customers -- she actually trotted out a 3 foot long shell and made a crack about getting stopped at airport security because she told them she was bringing it to the Magic Kingdom. Heh. The second speaker is an astronaut and regaled us with tales of his 5 month stint on the spacestation Mir, including almost losing his life in a fire there. And somehow he's also telling us that his management of a fire in space is like our management of projects here on earth at work. Ummmm... okay, but not really -- as uncomfortable as it can be to have to admit to someone that I can't make GovWin do exactly what they want because of software limitations, I'm not going to suffocate in a tube 250 miles above the earth after I made that admission.

Afterward we attend the a session on Vision where they show us how great version 6 will be and then Cathy and Jenn go one way to have lunch while I wind through this ridonculously large hotel to allow Deltek to videotape me talking about GovWin and how we use it at CS. Went well, though I was overcome by a fit of the itchies about halfway through and had to scratch my nose a few times -- the video guy nicely tells me they won't use that part, haha and YAY.

Next another session and then, finally, DUN DUN DUN, I get to present. It all goes pretty well, actually, I don't choke on water or drool or forget my slides or accidentally use profanity, though I did say both "heck" and "sucked" -- afterward at a cocktail party, the Deltek dude that was in the room during the presentation told me that both were totally fine contextually and that he thought it went very well. There are 8 or 10 people attending, they all stay the whole way through and ask me questions during and after and seem to think I know what I'm talking about. The funniest thing that happens is that, in the midst of answering a question, I mention we don't use Outlook at CS so someone asks what we do use for email. Of course, I tell them Lotus Notes and a woman in room makes this noise:

I mean, really? Come on, it's EMAIL, not porn. The Deltek dude even laughed about it afterward, hehe.

Anyway, on to Day 2.

Conference Eve update

All went well yesterday and last night, though (of course) we were not without some moments of drama and hilarity.

Cathy and I arrived at the Marriott and began checking in which is when we discovered that whomever had arranged the booking for the hotel rooms had me down for just one night -- I thought Cathy's eyes were going to fall out of her head. However, things were righted swiftly and we whisked our bags up to our room and then set out in search of a late lunch... only to find that the restaurant we wanted to eat in was closed for lunch and directing us to the food court. The food court looked a bit bleak and Cathy was NOT in the mood to look further so, with a bit of grumbling, we placed an order for some sandwiches and sat down. The grumbling continued until my number was called and I returned with a very attractive (and tasty) meal at which point things started looking up. Then Cathy nearly had a cardiac event when she perceived that the woman in front of her in line had taken the "Last French Fries" -- I offered to share my fries but decided after getting the look of death to shut up and eat. All was set right when Cathy's number was called and she found her FFs in the bag with her burger. We ate, our blood sugar levels surged, all was right with the world, and so we split up to go unpack.

Jenn Nelson arrived and called to let me know she'd made it, and we all agreed to meet at 6:30 to head over to the 2nd hotel for the reception. And then I heard a crash and realized it was thundering around a torrential downpour. No biggie, as I was ironing... until I heard my phone chime and looked to see a text message from Jenn. Turns out it was raining in her room as well -- the downpour was splashing onto her balcony and then INTO her room. The maintenance guys she summoned told her they'd get a wet vac; Jenn however, preferred to switch rooms and was moved.

At 6:30 we meet in the lobby and traipse over to the Gaylord Palms for the reception where we are greeted with... carnival food...? Now, I watch No Reservations and Bizarre Foods, so I am all about trying new things, as is Jenn. Plus, I know that it's at least some kind of familiar food and not iguana fajitas or cobra hearts or even durian fruit. Cathy, however, is much less adventurous, as we know, and actually rather dislikes "gimmicky" foods, so we proceed with caution which quickly turns to gusto. Jenn and I try our first corndogs, ever, and then discuss funnel cake (neither of us has tried it) over the be-sticked meat, some hush puppies, and a little mac-n-cheese. We find a table, and nosh, but Cathy cannot be persuaded to try the corndog, tho she also has never had one. We move on to some sloppy joes, but skip the nacho bar, and somehow I end up with 3 Hostess Fruit Pies and a bag of cotton candy in my bag, which I haul back to the table while gnawing without shame on a candy apple coated with red dye #3.

By 8:30 pm, we decide to head back to the hotel and skip the Guitar Hero contest that is taking place on a 50-foot screen at the other end of the pavilion -- tomorrow, after all, is another day. So I hand over the pies that are not mine and we all say good night.

Off to conference!

Cathy and I are sitting in Starbucks Coffee (believe it or not, Cathy chose Starbucks over Dunkin' b/c of the seating arrangements) waiting for our flight to board. Cathy's new sneakers are killing her already, plus she just claimed to have started the ziploc bag craze adopted by the TSA. "I think I started that," she said, and then told me a story about the TSA guys gathering around her to examine her ziploc bags full of toiletries several years ago.

Cathy got up at 4:40 am and was here at the airport by 7:40 am, driven by the most rickety cab in all of Massachusetts. Cab driver was nice, though. Big dude, but nice. And Cathy's hair was blowing in the wind -- she's dying laughing right now b/c she also had to push the Starbuck's table back so she could put her feet on the floor.

I woke up at 5:40 am and was at the airport by 7:40 am. Of course, I live a lot closer.

Updates to follow, hold down the fort (Cathy says) and OK, BYE.