03 December 2004

The organizers of HDC 04 should be proud. For their first outing in organizing a conference they’ve outdone themselves.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office” />

There are around 150 people here from the midwest area (<?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags” />Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, etc.) and also a few from as far away as Boston. I gather that they sold out in just 3 weeks and couldn’t take more people because the venue just can’t handle any more.

Next year they’ll need a bigger hotel, because you just can’t beat a day of dual-track content for $18 - lunch included.

As a Minnesotan, I am thrilled to see this kind of event and this level of interest in the midwest. When you consider that recent VS Live shows in Chicago only drew around 500 people, and that (venue permitting) the HDC’s first outing would have topped 200 people this is really impressive!

Last night was a pre-event party, and I enjoyed several great conversations ranging from SOA to VB to generics to hunting and fishing. Got to love it! Sam Gentile and I had a long running and very enjoyable discussion that covered SOA and the future of VB. As he said, I got him to spend more time talking about VB than he’s spent in the last three or more years total - glad I could broaden some horizons :-)