Yesterday (Saturday) was the final day of MGB (my summary of events is coming soon).
Robert Scoble was in Atlanta presenting a session and then was heading out to a local Geek Dinner he arranged.
I tried to setup a time to meet him during the day, but we were in seperate parts of the Gorgia World Congress Center - which is huge, by the way (Some fun facts - Including meeting rooms, galleries, exhibit halls, kitchens and storerooms, there are more than 90 acres of floor area (3.9 million square feet) on multiple levels throughout the GWCC. The 33,000-square-foot Thomas Murphy Ballroom is on a level equal to that of an 11-story building. The GWCC Building C entrance lobby is over 1,000 feet long, 80 feet wide and over 90 feet high, making it large enough to hold the Titanic (882 feet long, 92 feet 6 inches wide, and 60 feet 6 inches from the waterline to the main deck). So huge that we were unable to cross paths. Incredible but true - we were in the same building. We swapped emails to synchronize our schedules, but it didn't work out.
So, the day wrapped up and I headed out to Six Flags Over Georgia with my colleagues to go to the MGB attendee party - which included a performance by Jet (the Aussie rock n' rollers who's debut single was used by Apple in a worldwide campaign to advertised the iPod - yes, the irony was not lost by me). It was an awesome concert and I'll put my thoughts down about the party later, too.
When I got back to my room I had a note from Robert that he went to the party too and that I should have come to the dinner. Yes Robert, you're right, I should have gone to the geek dinner in Atlanta. Do'h!
The note also said he was leaving town at 8am. and it's now 830am. I've missed my chance to say G'day, and so today I go home a little sad.
UPDATE: The stars have aligned and we have scheduled a time to meet. :)
[ Currently Playing : Look What You've Done - Jet - New Music Live from The Panel (03:38) ]
I hinted at Longhorn's new name in my last post, andn the blogosphere has been overloaded by the news, but the thing that I found interesting is that there is a Wikipedia entry for Windows Vista. I know, it's un update of the old Longhorn entry, but man, that's fast moving!!!
Windows Vista Press Release
[ Currently Playing : Summertime - Big Brovaz - Nu Flow (03:54) ]
How can I describe this day? It's hard, as I am a bit tired, but I'll just write what comes out, stream of consciousness style....
12 Hour in the Georgia Dome
Presentations from all the senior VPs
Spanking Demos of upcoming products, such as "Office 12", Windows Longhorn (soon to have real name), IE7, XBOX 360, Windows Media Center, new MSN Messenger, MSN Search, MSN Spaces, MSN Hotmail, MS CRM 3.0, Windows Mobile 5.0, sneak preview of new mobile devices, some out there work that is being done by MSR and heaps of other demos that I can't remember.
To be honest, I can't wait to get my hands on "Office 12" and Longhorn.
Guest appearance from Michael Johnson and the talented all-female classical quarter Bond
Inspiring stuff from Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer, and the other execs.
And then to cap it all off, a party hosted by D&PE at The Compound, featuring Helles Bells, an all girl AC/DC tribute band
Time to sleep - we start again in 6 hours
[ Currently Playing : Love Island - Fatboy Slim - You've Come a Long Way, Baby (05:19) ]
Lots of Microsoftees are getting ready to head to Atlanta for the annual Microsoft Global Briefing, or as we call it, MGB. I made the trip to Atlanta last year as well.
MGB is held annually at the start of a financial year and usually in one of the warmer locations in the continental USA. The meeting is divided into a couple of days of role specific meetings, but it all kicks with a special day in which everyone gets together.
We all pile into a big venue (like an enclosed sports arena) and we hear from a number of senior leaders within the company who review our effort in the previous year and describe our strategy and plans for the upcoming year. Generally Bill Gates opens the day and Steve Ballmer closes it. It's a pretty intense, tiring, motivating and inspiring day.
Following this combined day, we have a number of role specific days, drilling down into the details - again, reviewing the past year and outlining the strategies for the coming year. In between meetings, there are countless opportunities to meet with peers from across the ocean or around the world or see some of the local sites or even attend a geek dinner.
It then ends with a BIG party. Last year we had Smash Mouth perform. This year, the word is that we will see Jet - a good aussie band.
I'll post more when I get to Atlanta.
[ Currently Playing : Baby, It's Cold Outside - Cerys Matthews - Reloaded: Greatest Hits (03:40) ]
w00t! We now have WeFly247 available for Aussie developers..
This free DVD contains everything you need to know to build fully functional applications using Visual Studio 2005 Beta 2 and features recorded presentations, source code and step by step training labs in C# and VB on Visual Studio 2005 Beta 2, .NET Framework and other Microsoft tools and software. Whether you're an experienced developer looking to learn what's new in Visual Studio Beta 2 or looking to learn a new skill, this DVD is an invaluable resource.
Join the WeFly247 community at www.learn247.net - there is a huge amount of original content to help you learn about professional .NET software development.
The applications for WeFly247 scenario are broken down into 3 areas covering all areas of development, including Windows Mobile, VSTO, Smart Client, and InfoPath and much more.
For a special treat, you can experience the application localised in Aussie, by our local localiser Andrew Coates.
Did I mention that it is FREE?
You can order just WeFly247 , or WeFly247 with the Visual Studio 2005 Beta now!
[ Currently Playing : Are We the Waiting - Green Day - American Idiot (02:43) ]
The latest MSDN Flash is baked and going out now. It has some of the local (AUSSIE) upgrade pricing for VS 2005, for MSDN subscribers.
[ Currently Playing : Kiss Off - Violent Femmes - Viva Wisconsin (04:29) ]
Inspired by my TagCloud mania, Grant Holliday created a Readify Tag Cloud which give me motivation to update the Aussie .NET Blogger list with the outstanding Readify bloggers that I had missed so far.
I think I now have the whole set after adding Akshay Luther, Grant Holliday, Graeme Strange, Ken Schaefer, Rob Sanders and Scott Baldwin.
We now have 94 members of the list!. Not far to 100!
[ Currently Playing : Ready To Go - Mark Seymour - Daytime And The Dark (03:54) ]