LISA post-mortem
I have been in Dallas for the past week attending LISA, the annual Systems Administration conference. I had a really good time - I actually learned about some new stuff that I want to look at when I get home, got to talk and exchange ideas with a number of people, and generally just had a good time meeting people, networking, and learning more about systems administration. But enough about work stuff. :)
It's very interesting to look at a professional/trade conference from the perspective of running a fan-run anime convention. It's a whole different world (and price range ;) ), but it seems that drama is universal. It wasn't on display much, but I've gathered that there's some behind-the-scenes drama between some individuals and organizations. Fortunately, the attendees can avoid that entirely. It was also nice to be at a conference with older attendees, since among other things, the elevators and escalators worked all week, and there was no physical damage done to the hotel. :)
On Thursday night, they had the conference reception, which I decided could have been called "Texas Stereotype Reinforcement Night". It was cowboy themed, with plastic sheriff stars and straw cowboy hats on the tables, and they had shooting games, a mechanical bull, and something that I never would have believed I'd see at LISA: armadillo racing. But they also had some really good barbecue, so that made up for it. :)
Currently, I'm staying for a few days at
skylon's place before I go home on Tuesday. Getting my rental car to drive here was interesting. I decided to rent it at the airport since I'll be dropping it off there, and decided to go the cheap route to get to the airport. I took the commuter train from downtown Dallas to a station near the airport, where I was picked up by a shuttle servicing the remote parking lot. From the remote lot, I had to take another shuttle to a terminal, then a third shuttle out to the rental car facility, which was close to the south parking lot, but separated from it by a huge fence. But I eventually got it, then met up with a coworker to go out for a great steak dinner. Tonight I am going folk dancing with
bitpig and
mundeemo, which should be ... interesting. I don't dance at all, so I'm sure it'll be hilarious for everyone else. :)
Pictures will be posted when I get home. Oh, and I wanted to see if I can bait Tom Limoncelli, who said he has a Google filter looking for people talking about him. Hi, Tom. You're in my pictures. :)
It's very interesting to look at a professional/trade conference from the perspective of running a fan-run anime convention. It's a whole different world (and price range ;) ), but it seems that drama is universal. It wasn't on display much, but I've gathered that there's some behind-the-scenes drama between some individuals and organizations. Fortunately, the attendees can avoid that entirely. It was also nice to be at a conference with older attendees, since among other things, the elevators and escalators worked all week, and there was no physical damage done to the hotel. :)
On Thursday night, they had the conference reception, which I decided could have been called "Texas Stereotype Reinforcement Night". It was cowboy themed, with plastic sheriff stars and straw cowboy hats on the tables, and they had shooting games, a mechanical bull, and something that I never would have believed I'd see at LISA: armadillo racing. But they also had some really good barbecue, so that made up for it. :)
Currently, I'm staying for a few days at
skylon's place before I go home on Tuesday. Getting my rental car to drive here was interesting. I decided to rent it at the airport since I'll be dropping it off there, and decided to go the cheap route to get to the airport. I took the commuter train from downtown Dallas to a station near the airport, where I was picked up by a shuttle servicing the remote parking lot. From the remote lot, I had to take another shuttle to a terminal, then a third shuttle out to the rental car facility, which was close to the south parking lot, but separated from it by a huge fence. But I eventually got it, then met up with a coworker to go out for a great steak dinner. Tonight I am going folk dancing with
bitpig and
mundeemo, which should be ... interesting. I don't dance at all, so I'm sure it'll be hilarious for everyone else. :)
Pictures will be posted when I get home. Oh, and I wanted to see if I can bait Tom Limoncelli, who said he has a Google filter looking for people talking about him. Hi, Tom. You're in my pictures. :)