Twas the night before Tech Ed and all through the Orange County Convention Center many creatures were stirring, just none of them Mickey Mouse.
Well, maybe, I should stick to writing code rather than poetry, but I couldn't resist the pun.
Prior to the Pre-Conference Fun
I've been in the Sunshine State since Thursday, taking a pre-Tech Ed vacation. I even got a photo opportunity with Darth Vader at MGM Studios during one of the Star Wars weekends.
Now that I'm back online, I can report on all the goings-on.
Party with Palermo
Saturday night was the Party With Palermo pre-pre-conference gathering at the Peabody Hotel. The whole event was one life-sized OPML file as virtually everyone who's blog I read was there. We drove over there with DonXML and SQLDiva. Don Smith told us all of his motorcycle adventure down I-95 and stress testing his laptop on the interstate's pavement. Jeff was there, as was Darrell Norton.
Michele Bustamante, Clemens Vasters, and Carl Franklin showed up for the festivities as well. Miguel and Scott came by around midnight.
As an aside note, there will be a Palermo After Party as well. Palermo is the front runner for the Official Tech Ed 05 Party Animal spot.
INETA User Group Leader Summit
Today was the INETA User Group Leader Summit with yours truly representing Richmond. It was a great opportunity to exchange ideas from user group leaders from around the world. Not to mention the Indigo presentation by Ari Bixhorn.
I also got to meet up with Paul Mooney, Julie Lehrman, Jeff Schoolcraft, and a host of other bloggers/user group leaders.
Bill and Bill hosted a workshop on building membership and getting more people to volunteer. Bill Jones (on the left) runs the Enterprise Developers' Guild in Charlotte, NC (a .NET User Group). The Bill on the right is Bill Zack, head of the NYC .NET User Group.
Registration
I registered for the conference this evening to avoid the insanity tomorrow, as per DonXML's advice. It was also my first look inside the Orange County Convention Center. The OCCC is simply huge and it was all abuzz with attendees registering to avoid tomorrow's rush, as dozens of exhibitors readied their booths for the show.