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The Universal Answer To Mark’s Question

You can’t be everywhere, man.

|| posted by chris under community, travel || comments (1) || ||

Going Topless At MVP Summit

Last week at MVP Summit, I went totally topless the entire time.

Now, before anyone within arm’s length of me decides to commit justifiable homicide, here’s what I mean by that.

I had seen something about companies issuing dictates against takign laptops into meetings. That they were too distracting. I thought that was a pretty good idea, but for a different reason. I simply hate lugging all that weight around with me all the time. So, thanks to some recent additions to my trusty utility belt, I pulled off a feat that some folks might think impossible.

I didn’t take my laptop out of the hotel room AT ALL! That’s right, (lap)topless baby!

Now, think about that for a minute. Being at an intensive, uber-deep-diving tech conference for a full week, and never dragging a laptop around with you even once.

This mission was a super-secret skunkworks experiment I codenamed  More Mobile Than Mobile AKA MMTM.

And it was a resounding success! As in…

Hoo-RAH! Who’s your mobile daddy NOW?

Here’s a list of stuff that made MMTM possible:

• Treo 750 running Windows Mobile 6.1
• Treo A/C charging cable (Thanks to Steven Lai for the lend of a USB cable when I forgot one day. Also to Amy Babinchak for a spare USB port from which I leeched some power)
• Palm wireless keyboard with Bluetooth
• Motorola Bluetooth Active Headphones S9 

I also had the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ5 with me for capturing all the images and video I wanted. That camera is playing at a whole other level of awesome, but was ancillary to MMTM, really.

There was really only thing that truly SUCKED about MMTM.

I didn’t have anything to use to carry the A/C cable and the headphones around. So my pockets were about to burst from all the junk crammed into them.

Obviously, cargo pants coming back into style would fix that, at least for a while. But a longer term solution would be some sort of small case.

Kinda like the one being given at the Mobile MVP dives, for which I was fortunate enough to receive an invite to attend. But as a guest, I didn’t think it would have been proper of me to receive one, instead of someone who was a Mobile or Mobile Dev MVP.

Even with that one little issue, everything else about More Mobile Than Mobile was AWESOME! I didn’t have to worry about where I was gonna stash my stuff. No bootup/shut down stuff to deal with. I could setup in even the tiniest of spaces. Just plug in for a little bit of juice here and there.

Well maybe moreoften than that. Battery life with Windows Mobile is beyond atrocious, and needs to be on the planning doc for the next version.

The part of MMTM that ROCKED? Nearly everyone who saw it wanted to know how well the keyboard worked. Once I showed them how fast and awesome it types and controls the Treo, I saw quite a few raised eyebrows.

I did notice some difficulty using the Bluetooth keyboard to type while simltaneously using the Bluetooth headphones to play music. Typing responsiveness would slow until it was basically unusable. I chalked that up to bandwidth limitations of the Bluetooth receiver on the Treo. As soon as I paused the music playback, the typing returned to normal.

Also, I found that changing the screen orientation to Landscape (right-handed) allowed the Treo to sit comfortable on the keyboard pop-up stand, while still being connected to whatever type of charging cable I happened to have at the moment, and without blocking or otherwise impeding access to the side volume and action button. A faster (as in one-tap) way to do that screen re-orientation would be nice, however.

All in all, a smash success. More Mobile Than Mobile is now my new standard way of attending conferences.

As soon as I find a decent mini-case, that is.

|| posted by chris under hardware, mobility, more cowbell, rx, thumbs up, travel, utility belt || comments (5) || ||

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…

1. Getting to see MOM again.
2. 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.
3. Lorna Williamson singing “Son of a Preacher Man” at EMP.
4. Ballmer’s speech on Thursday.
5. Sprinting for the monorail’s last run.
6. 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.
7. Getting a chance to sit in on some Mobile dives. And meet Loke Uei, if ever so briefly.
8. 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!
9. Andy Goodman’s sharp-eyed observation, which earned him my “Quote of the Week” award.
10. Finding out what an amazing person and tireless SBSC PAL the Canadians (and the rest of us) have in Elisabeth Vanderveldt.
11. Getting to vent on Groove to Groove MVPs, then hear others saying the same stuff during the Q&A for Ozzie’s talk.
12. Meeting the EBS team.
13. Lunch with Kevin Beares and some WHS MVPs, which included finding out about KB’s past as a member of the elite Army Rangers.
14. 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.
15. The Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ5, which takes shots nothing short of breathtaking.
16. The Robotics Studio Open Space session, which compelled me to install the software that very evening.
17. Saving a complete stranger from a near-encounter with a roundhouse kick to his temple.
18. Running after a cab to save Chris’ camera and charger. – Nick Whittome
19. 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
20. The first Windows Mobile Open Space session, for saying stuff that needed to be said.
21. The BBQ at Nancy’s place on Saturday night. – Wayne Small
22. Meeting all the cool new MVPs that really deserve the title. – Wayne Small
23. The sheer openness and trust that the SBS team has with us in revealing plans YEARS in advance. – Wayne Small
24. 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!)
25. Sharing room 2402 – Kevin Weilbacher (Note: Absolutely. Kev rocks!)
26. Kevin Weilbacher successfully getting EVERYTHING on the list his wife wanted him to pick up from Pike Place Market, thereby assuring his continued survival.
27. 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!
28. The Miguel Jacquinto act at EMP. Well, and laughing about it with Nick.
29. Nick’s bullriding should be on YouTube! – Elisabeth Vanderveldt
30. The SBS Family = TRES cool group – Elisabeth Vanderveldt
31. Wow if it wasn’t for meeting people like Chris and Nick the whole week would have SUCKED! – Elisabeth Vanderveldt
32. 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…

1. Not being there when MOM broke her wrist in a horrible, freak accident. Wish I could have been there to help her.
2. Trying to figure out the freakin’ Bizarro world of buses, shuttles, cars, and dirigibles that service Microsoft’s campus.
3. Open Space sessions which were neither open, nor left any space for other folks to speak.
4. Looking for the pucks…and coming up short.
5. Egos.
6. More egos.
7. Chicken and salmon, after the 3rd day.
8. 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?
9. No ferry during the 10p hour.
10. The pockets on my windbreaker, which dribble stuff out when I sit down.
11. The words “expected,” “everyone,” and “must.” Also, the intent behind them.
12. That the things said in the first Windows Mobile Open Space session needed to be said.
13. Hearing my friends uphappy about stuff that was said. - Wayne Small
14. Being in Seattle ONCE AGAIN and not seeing it snow! - Wayne Small
15. The number of times we heard the phrase “let’s take that offline” – Kevin Weilbacher
16. 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…

1. 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) || ||

Germans Love Dreamland!

Well, at least one does, for sure!

Oliver Sommer, Deutchland’s gift to the Small Business Server community, been taking a cross-country tour of the US preceding flying in to Seattle for MVP Summit next week.

Amazingly, he came right through Tuscaloosa today in the late afternoon to say “heya.”

Of course, I took him to perhap the most revered institution in all of Tuscaloosa…

THE ONE, THE ONLY…DREAMLAND BAR-B-CUE!

And not some weak-ass franchise location.

We’re talking Dreamland ribs, Jerusalem Heights style. O.G. fo real, Maynard.

Check out Olli getting his Dreamland on!

Good times, and even better food!

|| posted by chris under community, it pro, more cowbell, thumbs up, travel || comments (0) || ||

The Return Of BarCampBirmingham

This coming Friday and Saturday, the awesomeness that is BarCampBirmingham returns to the Magic City.

Let me be perfectly clear about my feeling on this…

If you are within striking distance of Birmingham, you would be an absolute fool to miss this for anything less than being in a full-body cast.

I can say that because, well…I missed it last year, and have been kicking myself ever since.

Just like the 1.0 version, the list of BarCamp attendees has been growing by leaps and bounds.

I’ll be offering to give a demo of mobile device emulation.

And I’ll tell you this, just from looking over the list of folks…

There are at least half a dozen people signed up that I plan to make a point to meet for business purposes.

But you gotta be there to get your own mugful of the steaming hot learn we’ll be serving up all day.

Hope to see you there!

|| posted by chris under business, community, freebie, hardware, it pro, media, mobility, more cowbell, rx, travel || comments (3) || ||