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I was very pleased with Techwave 2008. I had an unfair advantage since due to my TeamSybase status it did not cost me anything to attend. My objectives for the week were, in no particular order: - Reconnect with PowerDesigner Product Management, Engineering and Support
- Education, see if I could learn any new tricks
- Network, get acquainted with potential customers and or Sybase people that might need my services for their customers
- Receptions
The first was achieved, since my friends David Dichmann, Matt Creason, Xiao Wang, Dimitri Volkmann and Tony Hill were all there. I was able to spend lots of time with them and get a feel for the PowerDesigner world. I also met a few new people involved in the PowerDesigner group at Sybase. David, Tony and I even got to revive our long standing tradition from the Orlando Techwave days of roller coaster riding after the conference was over. The New York New York casino, down the road from the Mandalay Bay has a roller coaster that just called out for us to come and try it. Video of that ride here. http://www.nynyhotelcasino.com/entertainment/entertainment_therollercoaster.aspx The breakout sessions were excellent. It was a good mix of introductory and advanced content. Sessions were a good mix of PowerDesigner 12.5 and 15 content. I especially enjoyed the three customer presentations showing how other users are pushing the limits of PowerDesigner. My only complaint was that the only PowerDesigner Extended Education offering was the data modeling class. I would have like to attend the Advanced Class or seen some new classes being developed. Networking was fairly good. I made some new contacts at Sybase and met many new PowerDesigner users. Networking is not one of my better skills. I handed out quite a few cards, talked to a lot of people about what I do, and helped fix a least one persons vbscript. It was worth it for me since it did not cost me any money. My investment was a weeks worth of my time. Sybase usually does a good job in the reception category. The Welcome, Sponsors, , TeamSybase, 2 product, additional Sponsors, and the Special Event kepts the evenings busy and entertaining. A huge variety of food and beverages was presented every evening. If you can survive on appetizers, beef carvers, beer and/or wine then there is no need to buy any food for the entire conference. You kind of have to go out of your way to get a remotely healthy diet, but it can be done. The only reason you would need to buy a drink is if you are trying to sell someone something. Have a good one Jay Additional Techwave 2008 Reviews- Bruce Armstrong wrote a series of Techwave entries on the TeamSybase blog
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