My personal Lotusphere highlights

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Well, I know this is a little late for a recap, but I wanted to bullet point the highlights of this Lotusphere for me

  • Seeing Lotus finally support the SMB market with Foundations and BlueHouse
  • Having my whitepaper on Lotus Security as a giveaway from Voltage
  • Feeling a little omniscient talking about how Lotus should provide spam and virus protection in the whitepaper, only to have Lotus announce Lotus Protector
  • Getting to meet many new people who I had only interacted with online. Folks like Tim Tripcony, Gregg Eldred, Mitch Cohen, Yancey Lent and many others. My apologies if I forgot to list you here
  • Still having people come up to me and tell me they read my blog. It’s a very humbling experience, and it makes me happy every time it happens.
  • Having my family along, and getting the best cheering section ever when they came to watch the boat races.
  • Enjoying a cigar on the beach with Matt Stratton after the aforementioned boat races
  • Watching an embarrassed Jess Stratton get an ovation that seemed to go on forever after her absolutely killer Evanescence Karaoke at Kimono’s.
  • Meeting White Chocolate Truffle. She’s such a cutie. You guys are the best parents she could ever hope for.
  • Spending time with ‘Scottish’ Joe Litton. That had to be one of the most entertaining things I’ve ever been a part of at Lotusphere. After my round of ten shots of Jack was followed by his round of ten shots of Crown Royal, I knew it was going to be a good night.
  • Enjoying the talents of Scottish Joe and Bill (I’llneverbeabletospellhislastname) M. as they mixed the Mai Tai’s. They were phenominal.
  • The return of super hero duo UTurn and Lady Buttcheeks. Had a great time hanging out with you two as always. Miss you both already.
  • Hitting the rollercoasters with my partner-in-crime UTurn. Thanks for braving front rows with me.
  • Singing ‘If I had $1,000,000’ with the Captain (twice) and Tim from Voltage (once)
  • Singing ‘Summer Nights’ with UTurn to end the final night of Kimono’s debauchery
  • Julian’s ever-morphing facial hair
  • Watching Duffbert annihilate Bill and Paul at their Worst Practices session by pointing out some of THEIR practices. It was priceless!
  • Dining at Il Mulino in the Swan with my wife Jen. Everything I ate there was wonderful. Some of the best veal I’ve ever had. The company wasn’t bad either!
  • Covering the conference as press and as a blogger. It was a lot of things to go to, but I felt far more relaxed doing it this year. Hat’s off to the Erica and the PR team for really making it easy on us.
  • Many thanks to Volker as well. His guidance last year helped me really learn to handle all the stuff that flies at you when you are press. I can honestly say, without his help last year, I would have never survived and been able to do press this year. Now I feel like an old pro.
  • The Blogger press conference. For Mike Rhodin to take the time to sit and answer our questions says a lot about Lotus. He was candid, funny, and very accomodating.
  • Lotus people being friendly in general. The fact that I can bump into and have conversations with people like Ed, Alan, Adam and Mary Beth shows just how different of a company Lotus truly is.
  • Hanging out with friends like jonvon (didn’t spend nearly enough time together man!), The Captain, Bruce, Gayle, Vince (thanks for the rainy walk home), Carl, Devin (my partner-in-crime), Terri, Declan, Julian R., Julian W., John, Paul (as always, you are a riot to hang out with), Lorraine, Warren, Kitty, Andrew (& Melissa!), Kristina and Genelle, Turtle (his mojo be workin’), Phil, Matt and Jess, Kevin, The Bob and many others. Probably some people I can’t imagine that I forgot.
  • Getting my yearly drunken hug from Wild Bill when he tells me how much all of us as friends mean to him. Right back atcha man. In fact, I think you pretty much sum up what a lot of people feel. Lotusphere is about technology, but it’s more about the people and connections we make. I see some of my best friends once a year, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

So folks, another Lotusphere in the can, and it was a good one. Thanks to everyone who made it a wonderful experience.