Bad Weather – This was the first year in memory that was quite so bad. Cold and rainy a good portion of the time. I’ve seen both cold and rain at the Sphere before, but not quite to this extent.
More Women – Everyone I talked to said that there seemed to be noticeably more women here this year than ever before. It’s quite a good thing for diversity in our profession.
More Younger People – Every year it used to seem like the same crowd, and every year we seemed a bit older. Now I’m starting to see younger folks filling in the ranks. That’s another good thing for our community. And now with the new social technologies, maybe that will draw more of the youngsters
The Lotusphere bag – Feh. Seems like a cheaper knockoff of last years excellent bag. It’s like this year’s bag is Sharepoint, and last year’s bag is Notes.
Animal Kingdom is better for families – Too many shows, and more things for the young ones really made this a place for you to take the whole family. Not as much to do for fun if you are like me and like rides but could care less about shows. Oh, and the thorough soaking in the rain was fun too.
Quickr – I think this will really take off. Especially since it can drop right into a Notes enviroment
Connections – Activities might fly, but I think the rest of it will be slow to build an momentum. WAS, DB2 and LDAP are all needed, and many organizations will see that as a barrier to entry. Hopefully they make it easy enough to set up so that those of us that actually LIKE the features might be able to use them.
Community – This time of year is very special to me. It’s like a family reunion. These people are some of the brightest, nicest folks you will EVER come across. I’ve very proud to call this group of people my friends.
