My Openworld Story

There's been lots of chat in the Blogosphere (that link's one of many - here's another) about the upcoming Openworld conference and I know a few people who'll be attending. Personally, because all of my trips are self-financed (including the time off), I need to make decisions about which conferences I can afford to attend and this year I've chosen the Miracle DBF, UKOUG, Hotsos and various local user group meetings. Personally, I found Openworld too big, too crowded and too marketing-orientated to get full value out of it and as far as I can tell, it's harder for a normal user to get a presentation slot there these days. The latter is an important factor because the registration fee is waived.

Having said that, the one time I did attend was absolutely brilliant fun ....

San Francisco - October 2000 - Saturday afternoon - Sunny

Arriving in America for the first time ever at the ripe old age of 34, I was struck by just how excited I was and how I almost felt physically lighter. I was meeting one of my best friends, Ken, in a bar across the street from my hotel. Ken was coming along just for the ride - that's how much of a geek he is. He'd organised an exhibition-only pass and was just going to chill out round SF and sneak in to attend the WAP session I was due to give. He'd flown the day before on a cheaper flight but I couldn't get the day off work. One of the best feelings of my life was crossing the street to shake his hand and meet in a completely different country which felt so familiar, from the TV and movies, and so strange at the same time.

Sunday morning - Sunny

Arranged to meet Ken at the Moscone Centre for registration (he was staying in a hostel, me in a city centre hotel). Registration on a Sunday morning? How dedicated is that? When we arrived, there was a queue around the block of this enormous conference centre! I made a joke about such a big queue for my little WAP presentation and then we headed for the (much, much shorter) speaker registration queue. I asked the extremely nice registration lady if she could register Ken too. She was most helpful, but only had Speaker or Press badge envelopes, so gave him a Press one Next up was music around the park, surrounded by Oracle bean-bags and hordes of people. We purchased a carry-out order of beers and started to enjoy ourselves before realising that drinking cans of beer in the park was probably not appropriate A couple of very friendly female Oracle employees seemed to think it was an excellent idea, though!

Tuesday afternoon - Sunny

I had arranged to meet Ken for Larry Ellison's keynote and, as usual, Ken tripped up late. (He might be one of my best friends, but the word relaxed was invented for Ken! He's changed a bit these days, though. I think his impending marriage has done the trick. ) Realising we had no chance of getting a seat in the hall as Larry was about to come on stage, we rushed in to try anyway. The next thing we knew, a hyper-efficient, hyper-friendly, hyper-everything lady with a walkie-talkie spotted Ken's Press badge and raced up to guide us to the dedicated Press area at the front of the hall We got our notepads and pens out and nonchalantly scribbled away although my disposable camera didn't quite make the grade! Oh, and Larry Ellison rocked. Big time. There were parts of his keynote when he was saying things that I knew weren't really true but I didn't care. What a speaker. He could have been reading the phone directory and be guaranteed my attention. Marvellous suit, too.

Wednesday night

One of the disappointments of Ken not having a full-cost conference pass was that he couldn't attend the social event (although he came along in case we could sneak him in) which was simply stunning. I've never been to anything remotely like it since - endless amounts of lovely food (along with a few queues), plenty to drink, lots of nice people and tons of bands in different marquees. The headliner was Lenny Kravitz who, whilst being a mighty impressive artist to have at a geek event, also serves as a reminder of why I'm not sure when I'll go back next. This year it's Elton John - a massive star, for sure, but not exactly my cup of tea

There are lots more memories, but I'd best shut up for now. Suffice to say that if you are going for the first time, I'm sure you'll have a tremendous time. Just be ready for the crowds!