Disclosure: I’m attending Openworld at the invitation of the OTN ACE Director program who are paying for my flights, hotel and conference fee. My employer has helpfully let me attend on work time, as well as sending other team mates because they recognise the educational value of attending. Despite that, all of the opinions expressed in these posts are, as usual, all my own.
As I’m completely free of any presentation responsibilities this year, I thought I might try a little blogging again and see how I get on. I’m loving my new Lenovo Yoga 2 Pro, which reminds me of a modernised, lighter version of my old Sony (the red one, rather than the monstrosity that I replaced it with) which is much easier to carry around and work with. As I said, I’ll see how I get on.
The most obvious difference from a personal perspective this year is that I’m now a full-time employee of a company in Singapore (more on that in a separate post), which means a few changes :-
– A much longer trip out to San Francisco. It’s not quite Australian lengths (kudos to all my Aussie mates for doing this time after time) but 24 hours or so door-to-door is still a little more challenging than my usual trip. I really can’t complain much, though. The date-line thing and West-East jet lag on the way here is different, but the flights were fine, particularly after Cathay Pacific bumped me up to PE. (Thanks!) I feel great, to be honest, as a few people have noticed. Singapore is definitely good for me.
– I’m being paid while I’m here! Any independent consultant/contractor will know what a huge difference this is making to me, not having to take time off paid work. On the flip-side, I do need to pay a little more attention to presentations that are relevant to my employer. I’ve also started being invited to more of those jolly events that *real customers* are invited to. It’s a bit difficult having to explain to the local sales guys that my dance card at OOW is already rammed as it is, so I’ll probably need to at least show face at a couple of them.
The tail-end of the trip – arriving in the USA – was the most painful part as seasoned visitors will be unsurprised to hear which meant that I was up until around 2:30 local time and with having to tie up some loose ends for the office, it’s kind of ruined the first day of the ACE D briefing for me. I’ve still had time for coffees and chat around the Oracle offices though and it’s been great to see so many old friends faces again.
Feeding off how refreshed I feel compared to when I’m usually here and the lack of frantic slide-polishing, I’m looking forward to a great conference!
(Man, I *love* this laptop …)