MaryMaryQuiteContrary

so one of the coolest things about the Pavillion is this iForce Solutions Center.

i spent some time there today....

There's a really cool RFID demo...

There I met Zhou Bo of Vision.

This company, in partnership with the iForce Solutions Center in China have built an infrastructure for tracking the supply chain and were giving a demo of it on the floor within the context of a super market example. It was cool.

I also got to talking to the newest member of the tightly-knit circle of techno-celebs who are my personal friends...

Jim Clarke, Sun's Chief RFID Architect.

(like the camera angle? that was my idea.)

And because Jim is indeed one of my close personal friends he introduced me to

Jeff Hopkins of Capgemini.

Sun and Capgemini are partners... you know the whole demo with the shopping cart... that's generating real time data and if supply chain automation is going to actually happen, real time logic needs to be applied to that data so that business decisions can be made on-the-fly, without benefit of a human brain. that's where Capgemini comes in -- they apply real time logic to the real time data generated in RFID solutions to help customers make good business decisions in a value chain.

(Did you know, Sun just opened a new RFID testing center in Texas? check it out.)

anyway.... some really neat stuff here...

mary

Another great set of keynotes today, folks.

We had Robert Youngjohns, Sun's EVP of global sales. He talked about ways in which Sun and its partners are turning technology innovation into customer value via reference architectures and solutions, services, technology blueprints and more.

Bill Vass was up next. You'll remember I spotted him in the lobby this morning. (see previous blog entry) Bill is Sun's Vice President of IT strategy and architecture and IT Chief Security Officer. He talked about Network Services in action at Sun. (we need to dedicate a whole blog entry to day-in-the-life of MaryMaryQuiteContrary in terms of how i use technology to get my job done. Sun is a huge innovator in rolling out technologies to its work force that make it easier for us to get work done. It's just a stellar story. I am the personal beneficiary of it. we're digressing... ) the keynote was awesome... it featured airline seats, which was very impressive. check it out on replay.

David Yen rounded out the line-up. David is the EVP of Sun's newly-formed Scalable Systems Group. He talked about throughput computing.

awesome keynotes.

check them out on replay.

mary

well, my friends... it has happened.

i'm a celebrity.

i was jamming through the pavillion this afternoon and i hear somebody calling me... "Are you Mary -- the one blogging... the MaryMaryQuiteContrary blog?"

Here's who it was...

It's Mark Blair from Macromedia.

You guys, i was so excited to have somebody recognize me, I nearly kissed the poor guy.

we chit-chatted a bit. he was very nice.

he told me he's got a blog and that he was going to link to my blog. i told him i'd do the same if he could tell me how... i don't really know how this stuff works... i'm a marketing girl, remember. don't really get the technical stuff.

anyway, we'll see if we can do some cross-pollenating there....

then i get back to my laptop to get a bit of work done... and i have fan email... from a colleague here at Sun... here's what he said (edited to protect his identity):

•  
  
  -------- Original Message --------

  Subject:	breathless mary!!
  Date:	Wed, 02 Jun 2004 17:50:04 -0700
  From:	Ashesh Badani <Ashesh.Badani@Sun.COM>
  Organization:	Sun Microsystems
  To:	Mary.Smaragdis@Sun.COM

  
  
  

  holy cow - reading your blog leaves me tired!!!  ;-)
  
  
  so are you going to plug J2ee/app server or what?!?!?!?!!!!!!!  we've 
  got a localized version of the product over 1 million downloads from all 
  over the planet!  and the chinese ministry of railways is a reference 
  customer using web services with our app server!!
  
  have a fantastic time in china!  
  
  -Ashesh
  
  -- 
  
  -----------------------------------------
  Ashesh Badani
  
  Product Marketing
  Java System Application Server
  Sun Microsystems
  
  W: (408)276-3272 (Internal x33272)
  M: (415)786-7366
  E: Ashesh.Badani@sun.com
  

so i guess the answer to Ashesh's question would be yes. 

:-)

mary

OK.

John Gage is the most inspiring man you'll ever meet.

This guy just helps you see things that are staring you right in the face and helps you understand ways in which they work together (or should work together) that you never even thought about.

He gave a very provocative talk at the Inner Circle Roundtable breakfast. You'll remember that engagements like these are offered exclusively to Inner Circle members.

And since I am the master at working the angles, I am a member of Inner Circle. But you, too, my friends can get personal invitations to these types of engagements. Join the Inner Circle program today. It's free.

You know the true sign of genius is not just the ability to understand and solve very complex problems. It goes beyond that. A true genius must be able to understand and solve very complex problems and explain these very complex problems and their solutions in simple terms, understandable by people who don't share the technical or scientific vocabulary.

John Gage is a true genius.

I asked him for a picture with me. He was very gracious.

Love that guy.

Gotta go... on to the keynotes.

mary

Well, my friends, we're into the second and final day of SunNetwork Shanghai.

And it's another big one for me. Day starts out with breakfast with John Gage!

My morning routine was just a little more spunkier this bright sunshiny day because the Shanghai Superstar Karaoke competition (see previous blog entry) got me thinking -- hey I sing pretty good... so maybe i'll do a little karaoke before i leave shanghai... better practice. so

so my hotel room has this fancy marble shower -- glass enclosed and i just get inspired. i'm belting it out in the shower, people...

At first I was afraid, I was petrified
Just thinking I could never live without you by my side
And then I spent so many nights just thinking how you did me wrong
And I grew strong And I learned how to get along....

Then I hear some guy... i can hear him through the vents in the bathroom.... and he's singing it with me...

I will survive
I will survive
Oh as long as I know how to love
I know I'll stay alive...

yikes. there I was in the shower and some stranger is in his shower someplace nearby and he is singing with me.

that put the damper on things. i quick got ready. ran downstairs to boogy over to the John Gage breakfast and who do i see in the lobby?

Bill Vass.

he's got a keynote today. I've heard him speak before. He's very good.

Gotta go. Breakfast with Gage is minutes away.

mary

The first day of the SunNetwork Shanghai conference concluded with the

It was hosted by the one and only Wendy Koh -- the Britney Spears of the Singapore. Can you believe this people, a bona fied celebrity of the non-technical variety at the SunNetwork Conference and I've got a front-row seat!

This show rocked the house! Contestants came up from the audience and belted out the tunes for the shot at getting crowned

Shanghai Superstar!

People were literally on the edge of their seats...

...and they were clearly ....

...having a good time

(psst... that's Hal Stern!)

The show was packed with energy and excitement, anticipation and drama.

It culminated with the crowning of the Shanghai Superstar!

It was awesome.

Now, I really worked hard to try to get an interview with the fellow who won. But as soon as he came offstage he was surrounded by his "posse" and they whisked him off. I literally chased him down the stairs trying to get his name and a picture with him.

He was gone, lost to the Shanghai summer night -- taking his place in the constellation of SuperStardom and no longer in the orbit of mere mortals like me.

:-)

mary

The SunNetwork Pavillion and the iForce Partner Pavillion are the hub of activity.

There are hundreds of demos here, giving SunNetwork delegates hands-on access to state-of-the-art technology showcased by a global congregation of technology leaders.

(like that one? i'm on a roll :-)

I thought the best way to capture it for you is to have you take a walk around with me...

Everywhere you look, folks are engaged in dalogue about how the technologies being showcased can help people make money, save money, build their business faster....

But there's always room for a bit of fun...

Indeed, the Pavillion hosted a reception on the opening evening of the conference, complete with entertainment

and refreshments.

It's a great place to Get Connected!

And that's precisely what I did.

I'd like to introduce you to the friends I made...

...from Beijing Teamsun Technology Company....

...from VERITAS Software....

...from Macromedia...

...from SAP...

and from Digital China Holdings.

well, gotta go... time for Karaoke!

mary

Met a couple really nice guys from Deloitte today -- Kevin Shaw and John Bell.

I just happen to be sitting next to them.

And what do you know, Sun just happens to make a big announcement on Identity Management today and Deloitte is a key partner.

I know you guys are going to think this stuff is staged.... too much coinicidence... but i tell you, it's true. Random meeting.

It boils down to this: there's a $4 billion identity management market out there. It's in the crosshairs.

You'll be hearing more from us on this one. Check out the announcement for details in the meanwhile.

mary

Great keynotes this morning from Jonathan Schwartz, followed by John Loiacano, Jonathan's successor as EVP of Software at Sun and Mark Canepa EVP of Storage. They are available on replay.

The keynotes were packed full of content. The big take-away... Sun isn't just innovating with technology; we're innovating with break-way business strategy and disruptive pricing. Check out Jonathan's keynote. It's really worth seeing.

Now, as you know from my previous dispatch, I was actually onstage at the keynote today. It was totally unbelievable and I was thinking about you guys the whole time -- that you wouldn't even believe it was true. So here's what happened... I was sitting there when the host asked for a volunteer to come up from the audience. Let's just remember people, I work for Sun. And the SunNetwork conference is about customers and partners. It's not like I'm going to pull a Horshak (genre: Welcome Back Kotter). I got more sense that that. The big bosses are in the audience. They don't want to see a Sun employee onstage. Problem is, nobody else volunteered. So the host called on me... she said "You, the lady in the red." That's me. Lady in red, as you know since I gave you a look-see into the outfit-du-jour. (scroll down) So what was I to do? I went up there. And I participated in this Lucky Draw contest.

It was really kind of neat. Thousands of people in the room and she picks me. Unbelievable, eh?

I tell you, crazy things happen to me.

OK.

So there's a ton of people here. It's got the intensity of a kicked bee hive.

It's on to the breakout sessions...

Where to begin... 100+ sessions and I've got to decide where to go.

I see this in the hall.

I'll let you guess what I did.

So that's it for now. I took plenty of pictures and will upload them as soon as I work through a technical issue.

Tonight it's the

look out.

mary