Busy Sunday

Today was my busiest day of the whole trip. Things kicked off with an 8AM pre-show meeting, I worked in the lab from 9 until 1, and then gave my first presentation from 1:30 until 2:30 in the afternoon. I thought that the presentation went really well. There were a good 25 people signed up for my session today and I imagine that attendance will be similar over the next two days as well.

I had a couple of hours off after my presentation which I ended up using just relaxing in my room. It was really uncharacteristic of me to spend that time in the hotel instead of out exploring the city. But it was raining, I didn't have that much time, I didn't feel like changing into walking clothes, and maybe most importantly, I was just tired. It felt good to take a short nap before the keynote presentation.

After the keynote, I headed back down to the lab for "Meet the Experts" where I got to talk to a handful of customers, partners and even some Novell folk from Europe about various GroupWise issues. It was a really positive experience.

The work day wrapped up at about 8PM. Sorry Mom, didn't have time to catch any of the conference talks :)

After spending the whole day couped up in the hotel I was itching to get out on the streets. I didn't have anywhere in particular that I wanted to go but I just needed to stretch my legs and explore a bit. Dirk was feeling the same way and decided to join me. Although there were some snacks served at "Meet the Experts", it really wasn't enough food to constitute a meal. So, we figured that while we were out exploring we would find a place to stop for a bite of food.

Just as we were about to leave the hotel we bumped into a bunch of GWAVA guys in the lobby and were invited to dinner with them. The GWAVA guys really have been generous to us. We had a great time at dinner in the Chinese restaurant inside the hotel. Yes, we did go to a Chinese restaurant in Germany :) Over the course of dinner we got to hear a rather amusing history of the birth of GWAVA and some anecdotes from the early years of the company.

We didn't finish dinner until nearly 11PM, but I still had the itch to set out walking around the city. The thing that I really like about Dirk is that he's not afraid to just get out and explore. He's not the type of guy that needs to have a plan. So, we just started meandering through the city. We stopped at a Turkish restaurant for some Turkish Baclava which is apparently slightly different than the more common Greek baclava. I didn't much care whether or not it was Turkish or Greek, it was all just good to me :)

Our meandering incidentally led us to the Oktoberfest grounds. We hadn't really planned it that way, but by a simple twist of fate had accidentally chosen to go down a road that led to the Oktoberfest grounds. Oktoberfest was a madhouse. It was just insane to see so many people out having a good time. I was also surprised to see that it wasn't just about the drinking. There was a big carnival with rides and booths and food stands, much like a state fair.

Unfortunately, we arrived just as things were shutting down, and I didn't have the chance to drink any Oktoberfest beer. I know, it's kind of sad :( I may try to head back down there tomorrow night if I get the chance otherwise, we have plans to go for sure on Tuesday.