This Saturday I’m putting on my traveler’s hat and heading for San Jose, California, for the Microsoft Office Developer’s Conference, 2008.
Here’s a page on the reasons people attend:
-Take a deep dive into the real world product and deployment experience and guidance about the Microsoft Office System products and technologies since Office 2007 came to market.
-Expand your thinking by learning about Office Business Applications and how Office as an application development platform is revolutionizing the software development landscape.
-Learn key software architecture patterns for designing and building Office Business Applications.
I’ve been commissioned by Microsoft to basically walk around the place, talk to people, and draw cartoons. The doodling equivalent to Gonzo Journalism, I guess you could say.
From a personal standpoint, I like hanging with the Microsoft people. Because [A] they’ve got so much going on all the time and [B] they’re very, very smart people, there’s a lot for me to learn. I’ve already done the “Art” thing in spades. I like the totally contrasting, somewhat naive foray into tech.
There are rumors I might get to meet Bill Gates. That would be interesting.
Then I’m off to Texas for a week or two to visit my father, who I’ve not seen for a while. Then I’m in Las Vegas for Mix ’08 in early March.
I’m really looking forward to being back on the road again, after a month or two off in Cumbria.
I seem to have two sides of my personality. One is the hyper-social side, where I get on a plane and meet and talk with lots of people, again and again…. then I burn out and head back to Cumbria, and play recluse for a while, and recharge my batteries.
James Joyce once said that a writer needs three things- Silence, Exile, and Cunning. I suppose my Cumbrian-Globetrotting mix is my way of achieving exactly that. Rock on.
