Gooood morning Lotusphere
by Volker Weber
I wonder if I would ever be able to look at this carp without thinking "Lotusphere". This place is used for many a conference, but for me it's linked to the Lotus brand.
It's a cold morning in Orlando, but the sun is finally out. Yesterday there was a huge thunderstorm in the evening while we were heading for the Penumbra Dinner at Wolfgang Puck's in Downtown Disney. Torrential rains, and you can't pull up with a cab at the front door. We had to swim. :-) Penumbra had to change locations since they did not reserve Fulton's in time, and for me it was a change to the better. We had a wonderful evening with lots of friends and acquaintances — and we made new ones. Thank you for the invitation, Daniel.
Yesterday was foggy but we still made it to the Atlantic at Cocoa Beach for a breath of fresh air and a walk at the beach. We did some mild shopping, visited the Apple store (without buying anything), and then dropped off the car at Hertz, just in time to meet Joe, who has received all my boxes of stuff I had ordered prior to travelling. We registered for the conference and received our backbacks. I have already given mine away to Susan, because IBMers don't get a backpack. My colleague Karl-Henry from Sweden was told that press also does not get a backpack, which is kind of hard to believe. Anyway, we got ours, and I will give away our second one as well.
Flying on LH 464 from FRA to MCO without any connection proved to be the best that could happen to us. Alex was stranded when connecting in New York, so he needed to stay overnight at some cheesy airport hotel. He missed a whole day here in Orlando, and as you can imagine was not amused. Our flight was uneventful, food was good, service was awful as expected, but we got to our destination safely and only 30 minutes late. Lesson learned the day before yesterday: there are still cars being made without power windows and central locking.
Business Development Day has been kicked off this morning, and I shall be judgemental in the afternoon to figure out the Best in Showcase. Let the games begin.
Comments
I have a press pass this year, and yes, I got a backpack. :-)
When I went by registration this morning to get my press schedule, the lady handed me a backpack, said something about "communications error"... It was not her fault, I don't think. She talked to a supervisor yesterday who confirmed "no backpacks to press". Something must gotten wrong in the chain somewhere. Anyway, I got mine, including the DVD with "IBM Open Collaboration Client Solution powered by SUSE Linux Enterprise from Novell". What happened with shorter product names? ;-)
By the way, it was great to see you yesterday!
If you're looking at The Carp, you must be in The Chicken.
You must have missed the thunderstorm that we went through. It was like being shook in a salt shaker for 30 minutes.
It isnt a carp, its a stylised Coryphaenidae aka dolphinfish according to Wikipedia. The style is based on the Triton fountain in Rome. I'm sure we'll all sleep better knowing this.
