Saturday has finally arrived.

We got to Orlando around 1PM, checked in, and I registered. I then headed over to the Press registration to get my packets of things. I hadn't even gotten two feet out of the car arriving at the Dolphin when I ran into Nathan Freeman to say hi.

This is Lotusphere, the biggest social event of the year for many of us. Upon leaving the car, I then made it *almost* to the door when I ran into Chris Byrne.

Of course, once I went IN the door to the dolphin, of course walking down the hall I managed to bump into Joe Litton and Bruce Elgort. Do you see where I'm going with this?

This is my week to meet my "own kind"; those of us that live and breathe Lotus Notes by day. During the day this week we will all work hard, so at night we can all play hard.

Once registered, it was off to the Boardwalk Brewery for the annual BALD meetup. Matt and Zoe were there, and Mac Guidera managed to find a balloon that said "Lotus Notes" on it for Zoe - it kept her occupied and happy for hours! Once more, meeting old friends and new friends. It was not unheard of to hear "OH! It's you!"

You see, many people on Twitter only know each other by an avatar and a username, and a personality. We are meeting each other for the first time. For example, my fellow 1352 Report co-podcaster Sean Burgess had his lovely wife with him. Well, I've known his wife quite well now - from Twitter only. We hit it off, and I now consider her my friend. Today I got to meet her for the first time.

After the BALD meetup, it was back to my room to go over the schedule. Not easy. The first step was to go through Ben Langhenrichs database and add all sessions to my calendar. Then, I needed to go through the special Blogger program events. Yikes! Some conflicts. For example, a news program is occuring during Speedgeeking, so I will not be able to attend.

I am a little stressed over scheduling. I need to attend interviews, however, I also can't ignore the fact that I am here first and foremost to learn. As much as I will be reporting on news announcements, please know that I will also be blogging what I will undoubtedly learn from sessions. This is my career. It's what I do. At the end of the day, we all need to learn how to do it better. We are in the best hands to do that.

I am back in my room after attending the ESPN Zone party for a few hours. Only one drink for me tonight - I have this weird fear that I won't wake up the next day at something as important as a conference. The party is still in full swing. Right now it will continue without me - something tells me this is the last night of full sleep I will get for awhile.

-Jess


Technorati: Lotusphere2009

No comments.