Geeks and Vegas: Get Your Social On
Thursday, November 08, 2007 - So I'm in Vegas right now at DevConnections/DotNetNuke OpenForce. I should be downstairs in the smoke-filled casino, watching friends hand over well-earned money to the Vegas machine. I'm not really a gambler - I like craps and I might donate some hard-earned money to the poor slob that owns this casino from time to time - but in general I don't gamble. I blog dammit. So here I sit (I was told I start off too many paragraphs with the word "So". This is one of "those things" you learn from fellow geeks who know too many things. Hrrmph.), looking out my window, wondering if I should kick up WoW or just go to bed. It's late, I'm far too sober for Vegas at midnight, and I feel like a big pansy for sitting here while my friends hand over their salaries downstairs. What to do... So if you've never felt compelled to come to these conferences (MIX, DevConnections, TechEd, RubyConf, etc) I urge you to reconsider the next time around (such as this spring, for MIX 08). The talks are usually pretty fascinating - and yes you can always catch the videos later, but you'll be missing out. So these conferences are so much more than that - they're a chance to meet people, face to face, and say "I really like/hate this thing you wrote about/created/commented on. I love you/you suck!" and then start up a dialog. For instance this week I got to hang out with Rick Strahl, Scott Hanselman, Joe Brinkman, and Cathal Connely - guys I really respect and have always wanted to meet. At MIX 07 last year I stalked John Lam and struck up a really fun 2o minute conversation all about Ruby and the DLR (in which he used the words "OK so this is Compliler 101... right?" and I said "uummmmm yah sure whatever braniac." and he STILL talked to me!). So it's not like you need any type of "pedigree" - these guys are cruising the halls, hanging out at the Blackjack tables, asking for money for cab rides, etc. I ran into Carl Franklin and Richard Campbell from DotNetRocks the first night I was here. I'd never met them before and it was a thrill to finally meet them in person! I bought Carl a Woodford (his favorite bourbon) and the stories started to roll... So I also got the chance to buy Joe Brinkman a beer - something I've wanted to do for many, many years. I figured him for a "Cold Bud and dirty ash tray" kind of guy - but he surprised me and ordered a Chimay! Or maybe it was a Corona... I can't really remember as the shock of it all robbed me of my senses. Joe Brinkman... Corona drinker. The earth is gonna spin backwards now. So a few others wandering by joined us, and next thing I know we're discussing fun, lighthearted topics like Pearl Harbor, 9/11, and Vista's UAC. The discussion got loud (in a good way), people moved away from us, and it was a damn good time... So the best part for me, however, was meeting people that are using SubSonic in their daily work, and hearing the goods/bads of their experience. It's always nice to hear a good word or two about the project - but what I find to be very motivating (I think I need to say "super" now that I'm an MSofty) is the face-to-face thing when recommendations for changes are made. It's so different to hear these things in person because you get a chance to engage - ask questions, make faces, crack jokes - and get to know so much more about the people that are using the stuff you create. That's priceless. So if you get the chance to come to MIX this year, please do! I'll be there and I'd love to hang out and talk to any and all about - well about anything really. This kind of thing should be mandatory for all geeks.
I just found out about the Subsonic project couple days ago and spent hours watching the webcasts on your website, I must say this stuff has really amazed me , and you guys did such a great job.
I'm currently working on a big web app with many diffrent business logics and got to spent ages writing the classes for DAL and BLL, it's even worse when we want to add sth into the database or moving things around. Hence, Subsonic would be the perfect handy tool for us now, and I have decided to clear all the classes written before and start using the MVC template to generate the classes now. However, I need to modify the template to suit my needs, .i.e I want the insert function to return the id of the inserted item, etc.. So, I thought we should have a place , where all the developers can share the templates and experiences of modifying the template.
This 's just a thought of mine , but once again, thanks for this wonderful thing. Hope to have a chance to buy you a beer MIX next year, or any time you come to visit the UK.
"I dont gamble. I blog dammit." - LOL
Surprising... I figured the creator of SubSonic would make a good card counter.
BTW. Next year I expect you to bring a bunch of your SubSonic buddies to the conference. It would be awesome to see a whole track on nothing but Open Source projects in addition to the tracks we run for DotNetNuke. I think this could become a major Open Source conference and would like to see SubSonic get a good bit of publicity from the event. It is a great framework and a joy to work with. Keep up the good work and I'll see you next year.
The best part for me was presenting with you in your Clark Kent outfit, I mean a color shirt and those black glasses, great disguise! Of course, I had the Hawaiian shirt on to keep people guessing.
Check out the photo on walkspoiled.com
The regulars at the Gourmet would not recognize you!
it was good to get a chance to talk to you, and kind of you to sit down so that we could have a face to face conversation as I (like all Irish people) am descended from Leprechauns, whereas you clearly ate all your vegetables as a child. It was also very polite of you to ignore my ever increasingly desperate attempts to maintain a conversation and simultaneously get as much free beer as possible.