KScope 11: Day Uno

A few weeks ago I decided to rebuild my laptop. I never bothered to test the wireless connection at home, naturally. That leaves me carrying around a 4 pound brick plus the backpack...joy. I suppose it is good for my weight loss efforts.

Anyway, I am typing on a tablet so no links for you.

Like I mentioned yesterday, I had to be well rested for my first Cary Millsap presentation. I missed the keynote and apparently Don McMillan, an IT focused comedian. I mention that because later in the day, some super tall dude puts a camera in my face and starts asking questions...turns out it was Mr. McMillan. When I find the video I'll link it up.

Following that I had to head back to the hotel to deal with a small work emergency.

Then...a blur.

Oh wait, back to the conference...and the day's sessions were over. I walked around for a bit trying to find this fabled bar of 300 beers on tap. I couldn't find it, but I did find Kevin McGinley. He offered a beer, I accepted. (I was heading back to the conference hall to write up Sunday's events, so I was trying to be good.)

Seven rolls around which meant it was time for the Database Guru Panel:
Tom Kyte
Cary Millsap
Steven Feurstein

This was an hour and a half of answering questions from the audience, Yuri from Australia (via twitter) and Facebook. Of course I didn't miss the opportunity to ask this panel some questions.

Finally it was time for dinner (more beer) are the Congregation Ale House, which had a fine selection of beers I had not tried before.

Yay for KScope and ODTUG!

KScope 11: Cary Millsap

Today was a big day for me, my first Cary Millsap (@carymillsap) presentation.

I slept in, preparing my mind and body for the event (and missing the keynote) (it had nothing to do with beer consumed either).

My Case for Agile Methods

Not only is it my first time seeing him speak (yesterday counts, sort of), but it's something I can actually understand and have a very strong opinion about. Not that Thinking Clearly About Performance is way over my head, but it doesn't affect me as much as methodology does.

I fight with methodology on a daily basis, mostly resulting in me hitting my head against the closest wall.

I find that when I don't tweet or I'm not inclined to check my mail or twitter, something is going on that has my attention. That was the case this morning (minus a small family emergency that was eventually averted).

The slide deck itself was minimal, but very well done.

With his reputation as a technical leader in the Oracle community, you know you're going to get great content.

The good stuff is in Cary's style or delivery.

He tells stories.

I love stories. I live for stories. If you've met me, I'm sure I've told you a few as well.

It's easier, I think, to relate to stories. You can see yourself in the other person's shoes. Or something like that.

As to the content...I don't think it was anything ground breaking and I believe Cary knew that. What was ground breaking is the audience.

Database developers and DBAs in the Oracle ecosystem, seem to think it a dirty word. That's of course a gross generalization, but save for my very first IT employer, it's been true (1 for 8, batting .167 .125 (thanks Cary)) for me.

I want to see more of this type of talk, the "how" and "why" as opposed to just the technical details of doing a particular task. I can read the docs, I can figure that out. Putting it all into context is the hard part.

KScope 11: The Journey

Somehow I managed to fall asleep before midnight...which was good, because I had an early morning flight to California.

You might be shocked to learn but I didn't bother to pack for the trip or prep my computer ahead of time (VNC).at

I think I was in denial, I haven't flown since October, so the nerves kicked in again. Flying itself isn't too bad, its thinking about flying which bugs me. My mind concocts all kind of silly scenarios.

I typically just imagine all my other friends who do this way more than I do...which has a bit of a calming effect.

Yes, I find it amusing that someone so "logical" and stuff has these fears...whatever.

I'm currently sitting in Phoenix at Sky Harbor International debating whether or not I should have a beer so that i can earn my 5 State badge on Untappd,it is 1 PM eastern time, so technically not the morning for me. I'll probably pass this time, perhaps on the way back?

I'm very much looking forward to tomorrow...the Tools, Tools, Tools symposium which I got to help organize takes place. If you are at KScope, I certainly hope you will attend, it is going to be pretty fun.

Now, off to Long Beach.

The Podcast

Last year at OOW I met one Mr. Christian Screen from The Art of Business Intelligence.

We've managed to keep in touch over that time and about a month ago he asked if I'd be interested in doing a podcast with him.

What? You want me to talk? Sure! I love to talk!

After some back and forth, we finally settled on a date and time...

Christian did a great job with the sound, I don't sound as scary as I normally do.

Here are some highlights:
- I managed to say "America's Wang" in reference to Florida within the first 5 minutes. I probably need a new joke, I seemed to have said that a lot last year at OOW.
- I talk about how John Piwowar (@jpiwowar) p0wned oraclenerd with 4 posts (out of 727).
- Data Scientists: This was a topic Christian brought up. I've read a little bit about the term, hopefully I'll pick up some more of it in the near future.
- I did not talk about Gwen Shapira's "Faxing" comment.
- OBIEE 10g vs 11g
- I'm sure I mentioned Jake (@jkuramot) in there too, possibly a kidney reference.
- I almost forgot, I got to mention Oracle's Person of the Year (OPY award?), again (not sure if that will get old to me).

Hopefully I didn't get myself into too much trouble.

You can listen to the podcast here.