Hotsos 2010 - Summary

[One thing that's great about jet-lag is that it allows you to catch up on blogging and all the email that's built up while you've been away at the conference. Not much else you can do at 2:30 in the morning.]

I'm glad I went to the Hotsos Symposium again this year. Attending conferences is an expensive business when you're a contractor as it means more lost income, so I can't go to every conference I'd like to attend but this one should probably remain near the top of my list.

Lows

- My presentation, obviously. There was a funny moment in the office today when I was looking at the OEM Top Activity page - because, yet again, it had highlighted a performance problem we were previously unaware of - and our architect said perhaps I shouldn't be using it because I couldn't be trusted not to break OEM!

- Somehow contriving to miss both of Richard Foote's presentations but at least I was able to enjoy his entertaining company at dinner one night.

- The weather - not what I had in mind at all!

Highs

- The people, as always. Not only are there lots of smart speakers and attendees at Hotsos, but the informal setting makes it easier to catch up with them. It was particularly good to get time to speak properly to a few people I've only met briefly before, buy Kerry Osborne that beer and to see Polish Paul Matuszyk there after I recommended it to him 4 years ago! As for Monique, she's one of a kind

- Disco Night. Can I request that we have more party nights themed on women wearing glittery mini-dresses and Oracle geeks dancing in duck costumes?

- Alex G playing chopsticks on the piano in a large suite. I was expecting something a little more elegant!

- Quite a few presentations, not least, Bob Sneed's CPU QoS, Kevin Closson ranting intelligently about where we are today and where we're heading, Alex G reducing the room to fits of laughter whilst reinforcing the Battle Against Any Guess message and Wolfgang's Anatomy of a SQL Tuning Session.

- Feeling inspired to think about performance even more now that I'm back in the office.

So, expensive or not, I'm glad I went but next year I might stick to text-mode demos that don't need a network connection!