Tent City

It's a dilemma for me. I really want to keep my blog focused on products and not to have daily ramblings about "life and the universe" , this week tho' I think I'm going to slip into "diary mode". You've been warned!

I think it's got to be done. Just look at this (double click for full size or potter over to my photo blog)
We're in San Francisco. If you're an Oracle blog reader, you'll have seen entries and you'll be seeing lots of entries about the conference this week. For the past few years we have spilled over from Moscone South and North into Moscone West. These are city blocks, I must add, and the halls and demo areas and theatres are on levels above and below street level. A lot happens under the street between Moscone North and South. So what happens when you run out of space under the street? You tent over the street! Fab! That street scene is Howard and it's a pretty busy street as a rule. So for this week, there going to be an interesting traffic puzzle while cars have to divert around the block and negotiate the one way system that is San Francisco. The tented area is carpeted, the length of the city block. This is where invited guests were welcomed last night and where attendees will do meals for the week. Quite remarkable. The buzz on Monday should be great.

If a piece of your world touches Oracle, then there should be something for you here this week. There are talks in Moscone and in the Hilton near Union Square, where a bunch of the technical talks will be in smaller rooms, seating around 90 - 120. Small is good, because it's less intimidating for people to ask questions and it's a cozier atmosphere. At a conference with 45 000 people milling around, cozy might not be good for all the attendees. Our SQL Developer talks on Tuesday are almost at capacity. Last I looked we'd been swapped to a bigger room.

Kris has managed to get another hour for us in the OTN Lounge on Tuesday, so hopefully we'll be able to talk to more folk. Also we'll be hanging around at OTN night on Monday while there is a big Linux Install fest and of course folk will be installing SQL Developer too.

When we're not presenting we'll be on the demo rounds in Moscone West, demonstrating some new stuff! It should be fun.

I was chatting to the Times Ten team yesterday afternoon. They are very excited about showing off Times Ten capabilities using SQL Developer.

I'll be back and hope to keep you informed about snippets of news through the week. When I'm back next week, I'll get back to the serious business of product news.

aah, of course if you're at OOW in San Francisco this year, stop by the booth and say Hi!