welcome to the funcave

May 12, 2008

Mobility Session Survey Available Now for NOLA Attendees

Sorry for the long long delay in getting this info posted up here.

I know that I announced to all the attendees at the NOLA conference that the survey would be posted by EOD. Unfortunately, some unforeseen logistical snafus kept me from getting this posted during the conference itself.

Here’s the dealio…

I cooked up a short survey about the Mobility talk I delivered at the SBSmigration.com conference in New Orleans this week. It would REALLY help in some key ways (which I’ll talk about later in this post) for EVERYONE who attended the Mobility session to please please PLEASE fill this out.

It should be quick quick quick. As in, it should take you less than a minute or 2 to fill out.

It’s available on the demo SharePoint site I used in my Mobility talk. So, as an added bonus, you get to see yet another example of a kickass way you can use SharePoint for and with your customers.

You can start the survey by clicking on this…

Mobility Survey

And yes, you will quickly notice the survey’s got that Chris Rue kinda flavor, just like the session had. Being a semi-professional smart aleck isn’t something you can just turn on and off.

Check out the screenshot…

Couple of things…

Please fill out the survey completely.
10 is a GREAT number. Feel free to use that one liberally
Please please please take just a moment or 2 and put some actual words in the final comment section. If you thought the Mobility session rocked, please say something to that effect. If you’d like to see more stuff on Mobility at other conferences, please SAY that as well.
Be SURE to click FINISH, or your feedback answers won’t be recorded.

Also, if you didn’t get a chance to get or let me know that you wanted either the Windows Mobile Enterprise Resource Kit (ERK) and/or Developers Resource Kit (DRK) discs I had at the conference, please indicate your preference at the end of the survey. Also please put your e-mail address (this is required if you want to receive discs). I promise not to spam you, or share that info with anyone else.

One goofy caveat: Yes, I know the session was all about Mobility and mobile device stuff and how much SharePoint kicks ass with Windows Mobile. Unfortunately, you must use a PC to fill out this survey, as surveys in SharePoint3 do not support mobile views. Another feature request for the dev team, obviously.

Thanks in advance for your patience, and for taking just a couple of moments to fill out the survey.

|| posted by chris under biz, community, freebie, it pro, mobility, opinion, shoutout, thumbs up, webcast || comments (2) || ||

April 18, 2008

A Surprising Week

Oh, I knew the MVP Summit would be awesome. But it was awesome in ways I hadn’t counted on.

In no particular order, here’s what ROCKED…

Getting to see MOM again.
Steaks with Nancy and Crystal on Thursday night, and using some of our IT mojo to give a little something back to Nancy, who’s been the heart & soul of our little SMB community.
Lorna Williamson singing “Son of a Preacher Man” at EMP.
Ballmer’s speech on Thursday.
Sprinting for the monorail’s last run.
Sitting next to Nick Whittome on the very first day, hitting it off immediately, and proceeding to both chew bubblegum and kick ass all week long, even tho we were all out of bubblegum.
Getting a chance to sit in on some Mobile dives. And meet Loke Uei, if ever so briefly.
The anonymous dude who saw us chasing the cab we had just gotten out of, and stepped out and flagged it down. Saved my new Lumix camera and Treo charging cable. Damn, there must be something in the air or water in Seattle. People are really freaking helpful there!
Andy Goodman’s sharp-eyed observation, which earned him my “Quote of the Week” award.
Finding out what an amazing person and tireless SBSC PAL the Canadians (and the rest of us) have in Elisabeth Vanderveldt.
Getting to vent on Groove to Groove MVPs, then hear others saying the same stuff during the Q&A for Ozzie’s talk.
Meeting the EBS team.
Lunch with Kevin Beares and some WHS MVPs, which included finding out about KB’s past as a member of the elite Army Rangers.
Going more mobile than mobile, thanks to my Treo Bluetooth travel keyboard, which both kicked ass, and got lots of attention from anyone who saw the setup.
The Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ5, which takes shots nothing short of breathtaking.
The Robotics Studio Open Space session, which compelled me to install the software that very evening.
Saving a complete stranger from a near-encounter with a roundhouse kick to his temple.
Running after a cab to save Chris’ camera and charger. – Nick Whittome
Riding, and subsequently getting thrown off, a mechanical bull. Also, the elbow scar to show around, which is all that really matters to folks from the UK. – Nick Whittome
The first Windows Mobile Open Space session, for saying stuff that needed to be said.
The BBQ at Nancy’s place on Saturday night. – Wayne Small
Meeting all the cool new MVPs that really deserve the title. – Wayne Small
The sheer openness and trust that the SBS team has with us in revealing plans YEARS in advance. – Wayne Small
Nick taking pictures of Chris on the bus while he was out cold – Kevin Weilbacher (Note: I consider this more apt for the SUCKED list, but I was outvoted by my fellow MVPs. The bastidges!)
Sharing room 2402 – Kevin Weilbacher (Note: Absolutely. Kev rocks!)
Kevin Weilbacher successfully getting EVERYTHING on the list his wife wanted him to pick up from Pike Place Market, thereby assuring his continued survival.
Watching Nancy’s daughter kicking the bootay of Guitar Hero III Mobile on Olli’s phone, ending “Woman” with a one-handed, over- her-head flourish! ROCK ON!
The Miguel Jacquinto act at EMP. Well, and laughing about it with Nick.
Nick’s bullriding should be on YouTube! – Elisabeth Vanderveldt
The SBS Family = TRES cool group – Elisabeth Vanderveldt
Wow if it wasn’t for meeting people like Chris and Nick the whole week would have SUCKED! – Elisabeth Vanderveldt
Finally getting a picture of someone other than ME snoozing during a session, keynote, supper, bus ride, fire drill, etc. – Wayne Small

Here’s what SUCKED…

Not being there when MOM broke her wrist in a horrible, freak accident. Wish I could have been there to help her.
Trying to figure out the freakin’ Bizarro world of buses, shuttles, cars, and dirigibles that service Microsoft’s campus.
Open Space sessions which were neither open, nor left any space for other folks to speak.
Looking for the pucks…and coming up short.
Egos.
More egos.
Chicken and salmon, after the 3rd day.
Winning the WHS deep dive drawing, but then getting disqual’d because I wasn’t in the room. Also, Roger, Kevin, Steven and about 3 other people telling me about it for days afterward. Then getting a video of it. What’s next? A Ken Burns mini-series?
No ferry during the 10p hour.
The pockets on my windbreaker, which dribble stuff out when I sit down.
The words “expected,” “everyone,” and “must.” Also, the intent behind them.
That the things said in the first Windows Mobile Open Space session needed to be said.
Hearing my friends uphappy about stuff that was said. - Wayne Small
Being in Seattle ONCE AGAIN and not seeing it snow! - Wayne Small
The number of times we heard the phrase “let’s take that offline” – Kevin Weilbacher
The totally ghetto green plastic bag I was using for my “More Mobile Than Mobile” experiment. If I had found a stick to tie it to and sling over my shoulder, I was gonna alter my badge name to say Hobo Baggins.

But the very best thing for me, of all the things this week…

Getting to hang out and spend a lot of time with Marina Roos, an absolute sweetheart who always seems to be looking out for others, even (and perhaps especially) when no one else is watching.

So to The Divine Ms. M and all the rest, thanks for making Summit both unforgettable and eye-opening.

*NOTE: If you were at Summit, post up your favorite/not-so-favorite things, and I’ll add them to the list. Please respect your NDA. Otherwise, the sky’s the limit!

|| posted by chris under beta, community, freebie, it pro, mobility, shoutout, thumbs down, thumbs up, travel || comments (9) || ||

April 9, 2008

Welcome To The Firehose

AKA Best.Day.Evar

Today’s penultimate session for the 2007–2008 class of Leadership Tuscaloosa was…

How shall I put this?

TOTALLY FREAKIN AWESOME!

Big huge thanks to the local health and safety organizations who hosted us, including…

Tuscaloosa County Jail
Tuscaloosa Fire Department
Tuscaloosa Police Department

No, we didn’t get to fire any ordnance or discharge any rounds, but we got to see all of the following…

A full walking tour of the county jail, including the maximum security wing
Mobile command center
Armored carrier for Special Response Team activities
Bomb squad equipment, including robots
Mobile forensic lab, including 360 degree laser imaging system for crime scene investigations
Special Response Team (formerly called SWAT) equipment and tactics

We also got to…

Perform emergency medical technician response for a simulated car accident
Use a thermal imaging camera to pinpoint heat sources
Put on a full suit of turnout gear, including a helmet, to…

Work a fully energized firehose against a simulated fire target
Simulate forced entry into a residence
Field deploy a firehose (fully unrolled mine in a single toss, straight as an arrow…hella yeah!), then reroll for proper stowing

All while basking in today’s glorious 80 degree heat.

Did I say how FREAKIN AWESOME today was yet?

|| posted by chris under biz, community, hardware, it pro, mobility, more cowbell, nostalgia, robot, rx, shoutout, thumbs up, unified comm || comments (0) || ||

March 24, 2008

Dinner With The Response Point Team

Well, not everyone on the team…

But I did get a chance to meet a few folks from the Response Point team for dinner last Tuesday night.

Bob Taniguchi, Veronica Buckley and Ben Brauer were kind enough to take me to the 0/8 Seafood Grill and Twisted Cork Wine Bar at the Hyatt Regency in nearby Bellevue.

We talked about a wide range of topics regarding Response Point, including SMB conferences, the SBSC program, virtualization, and system administration, nearly all of which I can’t tell you anything about thanks to my Wolfram & Hart-esque binding NDA with Microsoft.

But I can tell you that the team is serious about Response Point, and you should be as well. Definitely a More Cowbell kind of meeting, if you catch my drift.

Response Point is on the agenda for the Small Business Summit this week. Tomorrow from 10–11a PDT, in fact. If you have time for only one session from Small Business Summit, make it that one.

You won’t be disappointed. Assuming MS gets the whole “casting” part of the webcast fixed.

|| posted by chris under biz, hardware, more cowbell, shoutout, thumbs up, travel, unified comm || comments (2) || ||