Convergence 2009

Well, I just got back from attending Convergence 2009.  It was a pretty typical MS conference.  Bad food, lots of walking and moderately useful sessions.  We did get a few nuggets of info from each session.  The CRM/SharePoint session was by far the best.  I will definitely be combining the two in the near future.

Adventures in New Orleans

Having just returned from my first trip to NOLA, or N’Orleans as they call it, I have a really funny story that I’d like to share.  Now, for those who are hoping for something tawdry, well you’ll have to look elsewhere.  I was a good boy.  This story is however quite funny.

So, like all Microsoft conferences there are lots of after-hours receptions and ‘events’.  These things usually involve an open bar and a barrage of Microsoft salesmen and partner salesman harassing you about buying/upgrading/implementing some new software.  Well, after one beer my co-worker, Gavin, and I had decided we’d had enough and decided to make a quick, and unobserved exit.  Once free from the clutches of the beast we set about trying to decide where in the big easy to go and grab a bite for dinner. 

Rather than walk around town till something came to us we decided to stop in at a bar we were passing and have a beer or two while we pondered our options.  Now this bar looked like something you’d see on Bourbon St, although it was nowhere near there.  Typical French Quarter architecture with the large wrap around balcony on the second floor.  Gavin decided it would be much cooler to be up on the balcony than on the street, so up we went.  Upon reaching the top of the stairs we were confronted with balloons and a table that read ‘Friends of Joe Landry Election Committee’.  Well, it seemed they were having some sort of private party upstairs, so I turned to leave.  This is of course where the story gets good.  Gavin marches up to the table and signs us in, gets us a couple of nametags and heads for the bar.  ‘Wow’ I think, but decide to just roll with it and follow him to the bar.  We grab a couple of beers and head out onto the balcony.  After finishing the beers Gavin decided to head back in for something a little harder, and why not.  It’s all on Joes dime!  So we head to the bar again so he can get his double Patron on the rocks.  As we turn to walk away from the bar we run into Mrs. Joe Landry.  She turns and introduces herself to us and asks how we know her husband. 

At this point my mind totally blanks out.  I have no idea what to say.  Gavin however spins a wonderful yarn about how our co-workers at the local branch (we actually do have a branch in New Orleans, so not really a lie) told us about how great Joe is and that we should go out and support him.  Well, she is truley touched by this story, so after introducing us to her four grown daughters she decideds we MUST meet Joe.  Now I am really starting to freak out.  This has gone from bad to worse to OMG!!!!

We decide its better to follow and meet Joe than wait for him to come to us (or try to sneak out) so we set off after Mrs. Joe.  Upon meeting Joe, we can tell he knows we are full of it but he seems to be rolling with it.  We throw out the names of our local co-workers and play it up pretty good, but Joe’s BS detector seems to be working pretty good.  So, Joe gets called away for a second and we blend in with a group heading out and make our break.

It was one of the craziest things I’ve ever done and was a lot of fun.  It was definitely the highlight of the trip.

Update for March 2nd 2009

Wow, I’m really bad at blogging huh?  Things have been really crazy the last month or so.  Between work and taking the family to Disney World I have been too busy to post anything.  Ahh well.  Here it goes.

First, I have to say that I hate Informix.  I also hate vendors who lie and say their product uses SQL Server when it clearly uses Informix.  With that being said, I have been working on some new data classes that combine data from Informix with SQL Server data to create a holistic view of our corporate data.  Exciting isn’t it?  I am also going to be pulling a lot of data from Informix soon so if anyone has any good tips, please pass them along.

Disney World was a blast, as usual.  The kids loved it, especially the princess breakfast at Cinderella's castle.  It was pretty cold while we were there (high was only 45 one day!!) but we all survived.  The only real problem was that it happened to be Mardi Gras week (which, being a good Catholic boy I knew, but not being from Louisiana I didn’t think meant anything too special) so the place was pretty busy.  Who knew Mardi Gras meant a week off for all the school kiddies?  Much busier than our crafty planning thought it would be.

Looks like I will be attending Convergence 2009 next week in New Orleans, so if anyone is going to be there drop me a line and we can grab a drink and geek out over some code talk.

 

Cheers!