SD West 2008

Justin Cooke

Hi All, I'm finally going to my first software development conference in March in Santa Clara, CA (SD West 2008)! I'm very excited :) -- California in March, where it should be in the 60's (I live in Baltimore, MD, where it's in the 40's). Also, from what I gather, this is one of the best conferences around. Anyway, I'm looking forward to it. I'm worried about plugging in my laptop and wonder if any of you have been to the Santa Clara convention center (or specifically to SD West). A number of the classes require laptops, so I emailed both the convention center and CMP and they said only that wall outlets were available. I was shocked that a convention center in Silicon Valley doesn't have outlets throughout the room under floor panels -- my lowly cubicle office space has that! Anybody have experience with this? Also, does anybody have any ideas of what might be fun to see/do/eat while I'm out in that area (San Francisco, San Jose, Santa Clara, Oakland)? Thanks! Justin

El Corazon

Justin Cooke wrote:

I'm worried about plugging in my laptop and wonder if any of you have been to the Santa Clara convention center (or specifically to SD West). A number of the classes require laptops, so I emailed both the convention center and CMP and they said only that wall outlets were available. I was shocked that a convention center in Silicon Valley doesn't have outlets throughout the room under floor panels -- my lowly cubicle office space has that! Anybody have experience with this?

I have never attended SD West, East, North or South or even North-by-Northwest.... However, I have attended many a SIGGRAPH convention, and I will warn you wall outlets are a premium. Prepare to use your battery, and sprint to an open outlet. I suggest practicing sprinting early as the skill will be invaluable. Also prepare for the eventual conscious decision... a pretty woman doesn't sprint fast enough, but looks at you with sad eyes.... do you give the outlet, share the outlet, or smile and shrug.... I bring a 7 outlet surge suppressor.... I am very popular at SIGGRAPH... which for once in my life, ain't bad. At GDC I fixed a customer's computer by remote VPN, so bring all the tools necessary to carry on work as usual, especially if you like your job. :) BTW, I've noticed this.... when you bring your own multi-outlet surge suppressor, very few guys will ask to plug in to your power, but ladies will.... best 12.95 I ever spent. :-D Not that I would ever do anything else... as geeky as I am, but hey. :-D

_________________________ Asu no koto o ieba, tenjo de nezumi ga warau. Talk about things of tomorrow and the mice in the ceiling laugh. (Japanese Proverb)

Gary Wheeler

There are so many dirty jokes possible here with you, multiple outlets, surges, suppressors, and ladies. Damn that kid-sister rule!

Software Zen: delete this;

El Corazon

Gary Wheeler wrote:

There are so many dirty jokes possible here with you, multiple outlets, surges, suppressors, and ladies. Damn that kid-sister rule!

I am a hopeless geek... I wouldn't get a single one of them... ;P ;P ;P There might be a reason I don't have kids of my own... ;P other than I was fixed in my late 20's. ;P

_________________________ Asu no koto o ieba, tenjo de nezumi ga warau. Talk about things of tomorrow and the mice in the ceiling laugh. (Japanese Proverb)

David Crow

If the demand for outlets outweighs the supply, you might consider bringing a power strip with multiple outlets.

"Normal is getting dressed in clothes that you buy for work and driving through traffic in a car that you are still paying for, in order to get to the job you need to pay for the clothes and the car and the house you leave vacant all day so you can afford to live in it." - Ellen Goodman

"To have a respect for ourselves guides our morals; to have deference for others governs our manners." - Laurence Sterne

Justin Cooke

Thanks for the tips! I was already thinking I may need to bring my own extension cord and/or power strip -- now I'm sure I should. Kind of hard to believe -- That a convention center in the computer geek capital of the world wouldn't have better support for laptops. Oh well....I'm not complaining! :) -Justin

El Corazon

Justin Cooke wrote:

Kind of hard to believe -- That a convention center in the computer geek capital of the world wouldn't have better support for laptops. Oh well....I'm not complaining!

it is not that they are not prepared, it is generally that it is impossible to prepare for 25000 computers in one convention center. There are mega outlets in the area designated for computing, and outlets on walls near every table. And outlets without tables get tables pulled over to them by geeks of various shapes and sizes and genders. It is actually quite amazing to watch. But it is just too difficult to support the majority of people attending these conferences where the majority carry laptops over paper and pen. It used to be just a few, but now, the paper and pen are the few and the laptop is the majority and there are just not enough outlets in any one location for that number of people.

Time is the coin of your life. It is the only coin you have, and only you can determine how it will be spent. Be careful lest you let other people spend it for you. - Carl Sandburg