I was blogging and tweeting off and on during Oracle OpenWorld, but there are some things that I didn't discuss at all, or only briefly.
SUNDAY
- Oracle PartnerNetwork stuff, which is partner-specific. Briefly mentioned here.
- Swag! (Or is it spelled schwag?) While I appreciated the alumnus jacket, the thing which I've used the most is the Oracle/Symantec water bottle. Small, but very useful.
- I heard portions of the Matalin/Carville keynote, including a previous speech by Ed Begley Jr. to which I tangentially referred during lunch on Monday. Incidentally, I was going to listen to the keynote from the OTN Lounge, but everyone (including Justin Kestelyn) was kicked out at 6:00 pm. By the time I got to Moscone North, I was actually able to get into Hall D.
- The blogger meetup, which was a very enjoyable time (again). Thanks to Eddie Awad for organizing this, and to the Oracle Technology Network for funding this. Oh, and to Judy Sim's good friend Dan Norris for the ribbon.
- The Phillips/Rozwat keynote.
- I then went to a regular Conference session on Oracle Enterprise Manager, which went well.
- After lunch, I attended the first of two Unconference sessions by Brian "Bex" Huff. See this post about his "Enterprise 2.0" talk.
- NTN/Buzztime at the Beale St. Bar & Grill. Three posts here.
- This was pretty much a day of private meetings and a private dinner. However, I did attend Jake Kuramoto's geek-speak Unconference session, which perhaps wasn't as interactive as Jake would have liked, but was still a good session with some interaction. Oh, and I created a FriendFeed room.
- I attended the second Brian "Bex" Huff Unconference presentation - this one on communication and this one also excellent. At some point I hope to delve into some of the issues a little more thoroughly.
- Some Larry guy gave a speech, which resulted in a grand total of five picture and blog posts. I also tweeted about the Larry Ellison Drinking Game. The only thing that I have to add to what I already wrote is that I again missed something from not being in Hall D. After the keynote, I subsequently heard that people in Hall D were disappointed that HP's Mark Hurd was not physically present in Hall D. Because I was watching on TV in the Database Lounge, I basically saw Ellison in a red box on the left, and Hurd in a blue box on the right. Looked good on TV, although to U.S. attendees it looked positively electoral.
- For the first time in my four years of attending Oracle OpenWorld, I actually went to the Oracle Appreciation Event. This politically correct carnival had a Ferris wheel, a dart game (with prizes), and cotton candy. Oh, and there was music too - the Gin Blossoms, the Psychedelic Furs (argh argh), and Seal (in the dark).
- After checking out of my hotel and checking in for my flight right at Moscone (recommended), I joined Oracle Marketing and others at a brainstorming Unconference session.
- I wrapped up the week by giving my Unconference presentation on "Securing the Moscone Center." Here's what the room looked like before the presentation. To visualize what it looked like during the presentation, just add two people - myself, and the one attendee (who did not contribute to the playlist). However, things worked out well, since the attendee had a biometric background (though not an AFIS background), and I was able to tailor the presentation to meet her needs. During the brainstorming session, it was noted that the non-technical presentations had fewer attendees than the technical sessions; my experience seems to bear this out, although in all of the cases (the two Huff presentations, the Kuramoto Unconference presentation, and my own presentation) the audiences, though small, were appreciative.
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