Explicitly and without apology a marketing vehicle MaryMaryQuiteContrary

you guys, check out what just landed in my inbox:



This picture was taken following the concert in Boston in late May. A friend from DATA (from whom I did not ask/receive permission to name) sent it to me.

That's Danny in the blue. He's chief architect and technical lead of all the work we've done with the ONE Campaign initaitive. Donald (pink) and Fiona (glam sun glasses) are on-the-ground with the tour in Europe even as we speak. They're based out of the UK. That's me in the middle. And Ingrid  (the boss) to my left.

Anyway, it was really nice to get this picture. Made me kinda nostalgic for my days as a roadie....

(not really.)

:-)

mary

Well, everybody. I've got a bit of news to share.... I'm not going to JavaOne this year.

:-(

I was planning on going. I was even planning on seeing if I could crash the annual sail of San Francisco Bay that Nederlandse Java User Group (my #1-all-time-favorite-JUG of all time) pulls together.

Not in the cards for me this year, regrettably.

See, this hot, hot, hot project came up which requires me to stay put so that I can get it off the ground. I can't tell you what it is yet. Top secret.

So it's good news and bad news.

I'm going to miss JavaOne for the first time in my career. My perfect attendance record will no longer be perfect. :-/

But I've got this really hot thing cooking that's going to be just great but I can't talk about it yet.

I'll still do my best to deliver JavaOne Scoop. I'm pretty well connected, despite my geography. And I have my ways of finding stuff out around here.

wink, wink.

:-)

mary

Well everyone, it's a done deal! OpenSolaris Blogger Extraordinaire Eric Schrock has acknowledged receipt of the most valueable FFS prize in MMQC history.

(The use of these acronyms is actually a violation of the MaryMaryQuiteContrary trademark policy. And as I've attended Trademark Legal Training, I am an expert in these types of things. I just like to live dangerously.)

Here's a transcript of the private email conversation that closes the deal. It's delivered to you directly from my very own personal inbox using my most favorite of marketing techniques (which has taken years to hone), copy; paste:

Subject: Re: you win!

From: Eric Schrock <witheld to protect the innocent>

Date: Sat, 18 Jun 2005 11:01:08 -0700

To: Mary Smaragdis <same as above>

Happy Friday Everybody!

I am delighted to announce that today MaryMaryQuiteContary readers will witness (in the first person) the spectacle of what happens we give away a Sony MP3 player NIB (value: ~$350)!



Please join me in congratulating Eric Schrock, who wins People's Choice Award when it comes to Open Solaris Bloggers! (Well, the MaryMaryQuiteContrary people at least.)

We'll be letting Eric know he won via private email conversation. And if he opens the email, reads it and responds I'll send the MP3 player to him! (and publish the private email conversation in this blog.)

Otherwise we're going to give it to the second runner up.

(because that's what happens when you don't read the email that marketing people send you.)

:-)

But wait, there's more!

Everyone who played along in the MaryMaryQuiiteContary People's Choice Awards for OpenSolaris Bloggers (see previous entry) gets a free t-shirt! If you're a winner, send me email to MMQC -- except all spelled out like it is in the masthead of this blog. Then do the at symbol. Then do gee-mail except spell it right dot com. Get it? trying to trick the spambots because they haven't found me there yet. Oh, and don't try to impersonate a winner people. It won't work. And I'll black-list you if you try. We give away lots of stuff around here. (Free Stuff is the brand promise of MaryMaryQuiteContrary.) Just check back frequently and you can get in on the action fair and square.



double :-)

(Suresh gets two because he's totally out of control.)

Please joining me in congratulating all of the MaryMaryQuiteContary People's Choice Awards nominees, who have earned their spot in the MaryMaryQuiteContary Hall of Fame (and ultimately into my blogroll when I get some time to go in and do that)!  Presented to you here in the order in which they were received....

Adam Leventhal
Glenn Weinberg
Tim Marsland
Sin-Yaw Wang
Chandan
Rich Teer
Tom Erickson
Andy Rudoff
Eric Schrock
Glenn Brunette
Jeff Bonwick
Peter Tribble
John Clingan
Casper Dik
Robert Milkowski
Chandan
Bryan Cantril
Tim Marsland
Rachel and Bill
Ben Rockwood
Andre Molyneux

(can you hear the roar of the crowd?)

tripple :-)

And we'll stop there. Because it's just impossible to top a hat-trick of :-)'s. It just doesn't get any better than that.

mary

It's here!

OpenSolaris is live!

In celebration you will be giving away a Sony Hi-MD Walkman | MZ-NH1 (NIB) that's valued at ~$350.



(making it the priciest give-away we've ever given away here in MaryMaryQuiteContary land so you can get a sense for what a huge big deal this is for me. and everybody. here at Sun. and everywhere else.)

You get to give it away.

That's right -- you!

Post a comment to this blog entry naming your favorite Open Solaris blogger. (These are the guys and gals who built this monument to human achievement, people. And they're telling all in their blogs).

The OpenSolaris blogger with the most votes wins the MP3 player.

But wait, there's more.

Vote and get a free OpenSolaris t-shirt.



(feel free to wax poetic about your favorite OpenSolaris blogger

So how cool is that?

Makes you want do a little happy dance, doesn't it?

Well, just wait until you see the source. Then you're really gonna bust the move.

(makes me smile just to think about it)

So check it out, people. See what all the fuss is about.

And don't forget to post a comment to this blog entry with your favorite blogger and play a hand in giving away this spectacular prize to a very well-deserving individual.

:-)

mary

p.s. I don't get to vote. Since I'm the purveyor of this whole little escapade. But if I were voting, I'd pick Raquel and Bill.

Per yesterday's post, It is my great pleasure to award this voucher...



for a Sun Certification Exam to Brad.

Congratulations Brad!

(i'd better not see it on ebay)

Stay tuned for a huge big day today, folks.

We (you) are going to be giving away an MP3 player valued at ~$350.

!!!!!

Stay tuned.

:-)

mary

Happy Friday Everybody!

(just play along, would ya?)

You know how I personally adore all Sun Certified Professionals? 

OK. So in celebration of that fact, I'm going to be giving away a voucher for any Sun Educational Services Exam beginning with a 310 prefix. Value: in the $150 range. Take this exam and (pass it) and you can get Sun Certified. By doing so you'd earn my undying love and adorement. (More importantly)You get some serious credentials for the resume (aka C.V. for all you people out there w/advanced degrees).

I find that these kinds of accoutrements provide a great deal of "thud" factor when it comes to landing a hot job/getting a raise. You're on your own in negotiations there.

<aside>

Did I mention you can now become certified for Tiger? (That's the Java Platform Standard Edition 5.0 for all the uninitiated out there.) Yup. You could use this voucher for that one if you wanted...

</aside>

(you have to win* it first. )

So we're about to get to the big contest* for the voucher in just a minute... but first you have to suffer through a day in the life of MaryMaryQuiteContary.

So you guys, I hate doing expenses. I just absolutely hate sorting through all the receipts to submit my expense reports.




So I bit the bullet. And I decided that I'm going to sort through all my receipts and do expenses this week.

So as I was doing that, I found this:



Can you even believe it?

It's a voucher! For an exam to get Sun Certified! It was in my great big pile of papers that I'm sorting through in order to do expenses. Can you even believe it?! I was all excited.

You see, we did go through that phase in the career where I wanted to be a Java Developer. (We're over it; I got tired of trying to stick myself into that round hole; I have other aspirations now.)

So I have a voucher for a certification exam that was never used!

And I'm going to give it away.

(Don't tell anybody; I don't want to get into any trouble.)

This voucher goes to the person who posts a comment to this blog entry with the most compelling/interesting/funny reason as to why they should get it. Unlike other Friday Free Stuff winners, this person won't have to wait months and months to receive their prize, because it doesn't require me going to the post office to mail it. I can just lick a stamp and off it goes. (except you don't actually have to lick stamps anymore but that's a little bit of a technicality).

So that's all you have to do for your chance at winning, people. And guess what else? We're going to award it tomorrow... right about this time!

So you got 24 hours to post a comment. (for your chance at winning* this prize* valued in the $150 range)

or not.

but it's more fun if you play along.

:-)

mary

p.s. *This is not a contest. I don't do contests. I'm giving something I own away to somebody I choose.

p.p.s. The voucher is valid worldwide. :-)

p.p.p.s. Today's forecast high: 92^o F/33^oC; 69% humidity. The official MaryMaryQuiteContrary favorite way to stay cool in the summer:



(Frape -- ice coffee. I make the best Frape. It's really the only thing that I'm good at cooking.)

... that the official fan club site for a rock band calls what happens when a technology infrastructure built by Sun Microsystems is used "one of the most dramatic moments of this or any U2 show."



Get the full story here.

mary

If you're going to JavaOne, you can have (free) breakfast with some of Sun's ranking technocelebs, including my two favorite Bill(s):

	Dear Mary Smaragdis, As a valued Sun Executive Boardroom program member, you are invited to join Bill Howard, Sun CIO Advocate; Bill Vass, Sun CIO; and other Sun IT senior staff members at an exclusive breakfast during JavaOne in San Francisco. Come join Sun's IT leaders and learn how they run a world-class IT organization. Ask them your burning IT questions. And network with your peers. Details > Tuesday, June 28 7:00-8:30 AM The Argent Hotel 50 Third Street San Francisco 94013			Register Now for the event

I got this exclusive invite delivered to me directly to my personal email inbox. But I'm sharing. Because that's just the kind of gal I am.  (wink, wink. get it? Share. :-)

If your'e planning on being at JavaOne, feel free to register for the breakfast. (space is limited; hurry).

To get these kind of exclusive email dispatches delivered directly to you, get yourself signed up.

Membership has its privlidges.

mary

p.s. Sorry the formatting is a little screwy. It's more than I can manage to fix it right now. Super busy.

Please dial 911.

I think I am having a heart attack.

Check out what just landed in my inbox, straight from the personal email account of Dr. Josh Bloch:

Order it today, people. Get in while the getting is good.

mary

You're not going to even believe this but I swear it's true.

Yesterday, I met none other than Eric Raymond. That's right. The Eric Raymond. Founder of  Open Source movement. Author of  The Cathedral & The Bazaar. And much more.

Not only did I meet Eric (we're on a first-name basis; though I'm really not too confident that he remembers mine), I transported him Point A to Point B.

In my car.

That I was driving.

Proof:



(Thank goodness I had managed to clean out the car over the Memorial Day weekend using my all-time favorite methodology: leaf blower. Would have been terribly embarrassing if he had seen the car in its usual three-kids-ages-six-and-under state of matter.)

So, it was an unbelievable set of circumstances that brought me and Eric together. It's kind of complicated so we won't go into it. But it involved Danese Cooper (diva blogger. close personal friend. replies to emails I send her. but i've never been invited to one of her parties so maybe it's not quite a bi-directional close personal friendship yet. hint. hint.) and Linda Murdock (one of the most important people you will ever meet, very kind, extremely funny and makes me laugh out loud every time I talk to her)

<pause button>

Moral of the story: you want to get something done, ask a busy woman (or in this case three busy women).

</pause button>

Back to me and Eric...

It was neat, you guys. We chit-chatted in the car as we were on our way from Point A to Point B. I did most of the chitting and most of the chatting...  you get the idea.

I asked him for a business card. (I collect the business cards of the techno celebs that I meet.)

He said he didn't have one.

He told me that if I googled Eric Raymond I'd find him.

I told him that if he googled MaryMaryQuiteContary he'd find me.

(he didn't seem so impressed about that one).

Anyway, before you could say terminfo/termcap database we had arrived at Point B and it was time to say goodbye to Eric Raymond.

It was fun.

My only disappointment was that I didn't have time for the ceremony to initiate him into that tightly knit and exclusive community of techno celebs who are my close personal friends.

next time.

:-)

mary

 

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