Jun ’06 11
OK, who at Microsoft thought it was a good idea to do the keynote at night and have thousands of us all try and catch a bus to our hotel?
You would expect them to load up a bus, then let it roll, and bring in another. Instead we fill a bus, let it sit, and wait. For what I’m not sure.
Great planing. Maybe next year, assuming they do the keynotes on Sunday, the can start them earlier and have some other things like hands on labs so that not everyone leaves at once. Plus, the energy level of the crowd was so low. You could tell people just wanted to get back to their hotels for the night.
They also might want to have someone review the funny parts of the keynote to make sure they are actually funny. Maybe if I watched 24, it would have been more entertaining. They had the actress who played Chloe (?) there to go along with a 24 spoof called 4 with each episode covering a 4 minute time period with IT issues. It was cute, but not as funny as it could have been.
Jun ’06 11
After a great dinner at Legal Sea Foods (rainbow trout), I hopped the bus to head over for the keynote. As I expected the food tables had some snack/dessert items, so I grabbed a few things for later and headed into the seating area.
The keynote hasn’t started yet, but the little coconut-filled chocolate cookies are quite tasty. I also have my first official swag. Every seat has a small keychain with a flashlight and compass. I really could have used the compass yesterday.
Jun ’06 11
You would expect that the split between restaurants serving Coke and Pepsi products would be fairly consistent. Instead, it seems like cities tend to lean one way or the other more so than I would expect. So far every restaurant I’ve been to in Boston serves Pepsi (yuck!) Even the convention center is a Pepsi venue. The first thing I noticed when I showed up for registration at TechEd was a cooler filled with Pepsi products. I believe it was the same last year in Orlando. Guess I’ll be hitting the bottled water pretty hard then. Just as well. Probably wouldn’t be good for me to have a free supply of Diet Coke for a week.
Jun ’06 11
Grabbed a paper and headed over to Dunkin Donuts for breakfast. Haven’t been to one in years, but it was the closest bagel I could find. Finished the paper and walked back to the hotel to catch the bus (route 4) to the convention center. Didn’t take long to get there, but we’ll see how traffic is tomorrow on a workday.
Registration was quick as there was hardly anyone there that early. I grabbed my 2006 edition of the TechEd bag and found a place to sit down and check it out. First thoughts are mostly positive. The material seems pretty sturdy, and I like the messenger bag style. Now for the negatives. First, no water bottle holder. Second, the clasps for the flap are metal clips. Sturdy, but noisy as you walk with the bag.
I walked around the convention center for a bit. You can walk out over the main floor on enclosed walkways; gives you a nice view of the preparations. All the Microsoft venues look ready, but the vendor area still has a way to go before it’ll be ready.
Stopped by the store and found some clearance items available. Picked up a couple Microsoft long sleeve shirts for $15 each.
I rode back to the hotel and dropped off the bag and grabbed my Boston maps. Spent the next few hours walking around. Visited Boston Common and the Public Garden, all the while enjoying today’s beautiful weather. Walked by the New State House, then headed down Beacon, then Charles, and over to the Esplanade. There was a walk/run going on, so the area by the band shell was packed. Watched the sailboats for a while, then made my way to Copley Place and Trinity Church, and finally back to the hotel to wash up for a lite lunch at M.J. O’Connor’s.
Whew…. It’s only 2:40. Going to need a nap before dinner and the keynote tonight.
