An audience of two

Wednesday August 13, 2008

CEC 2008 is coming...
I just got back from a brief trip to Las Vegas in preparation for CEC 2008. As you may remember from last year's closing session, CEC2008 will be held in the same place as last year: Bally's and Paris hotels, Las Vegas. The exact dates are November 9th-14th. But in case you don't know (and I didn't until I got there) things are going to be very different this time. Everything that you need to know is on CEpedia. Here's how things are looking from where I'm sitting.

The key change is a far greater emphasis on "training milestones and certification". What that would seem to mean is a change from the breakout sessions of the past, whereby you could just go and listen to any talks that sounded interesting, to a more formal training event, including hands-on labs. This will mean no Call For Papers as we have done in previous years; the breakout subject matter will be decided by the CTOs and Sun Learning Services.

As a result of this the event will be longer - from Sunday evening to Friday afternoon - but there will be a lot fewer attendees; the FAQ puts the number at 2,000 plus about 200 partners. There will be the demo area (AKA the "Pavilion") but it'll only be open from Sunday through Tuesday, and pavilion workers won't be allowed access to the breakouts. Also there won't be a closing session; the last day will be for breakouts and accreditation.

The layout will be entirely different from last year. For one thing the general session will be held in an area that we didn't have last year. The hall that the general session was in will now be used for breakouts, the Pavilion, Email, games and will have wireless access. (I'm thinking of renting an Espresso bar - I bet I could make a fortune.) They (and I'm not entirely sure who They are, but I do know it has a capital T) are talking about having wireless pretty much everywhere, That means bring your laptop and token card, and for once adequate power outlets WILL be provided. Yes, it only takes 8 or 9 years to get the message through. There will be the usual SunRay email stations; this time we are planning on a single big server rather than several little ones, which really didn't work that well. I'm also hoping to get the latest SunRay 2s with the built-in VPN firmware (as suggested by Chris last year) so that we don't have to worry about SWAN access and security.

I'm hoping that the presenters will be instructed to use their own laptops; it'll certainly make things a lot easier if we don't have to set up a workstation in each room. If you followed my CEC blog last year you'll know that all the equipment had to be removed and locked away every night, because there's just no way to physically secure most of the convention rooms. Makes for a real headache.

So far I haven't heard anything about evening entertainment. Following last year's EPIC FAIL at the Palms it wouldn't surprise me if They just abandoned the idea entirely. It's hard to network when you can't hear yourself think, let alone what your friend is saying.

I haven't heard anything about videos, though I'm considering making one anyway if I can find the time. I'll be blogging as I did last year, and I'll be on Twitter. I'm hoping that Twitter will fix the "track" feature which has been broken for months, but I'm thinking of trying to set up an auto retweeting Twitter bot if I can figure out how.

Anyway, that's it for now; if there's anything else I can tell you, I will. Hope to see you in Vegas. Oh, and remember to bring your camera.

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