- Progress: EMC is making great efforts to recover and organize around their position as a leader in the world of tech. Their emerging technologies continue to push the envelope to provide seamless access in a wide range of scenarios. They have done a good job in answering the challenge of the cheaper All Flash Array vendors. And they continue to refine and improve products that have long been leaders in functionality and indeed near industry standard in some cases. I also appreciated the emphasis on charity through a partnership with Charity: Water. Glad to see that emphasis.
- Crazy. Las Vegas as the host city has been an interesting experience. It pitches itself as the place where dreams come true and where anything and everything is possible. Yet behind that lovely facade is a dark, lonely element of disappointment and self-derision. I've enjoyed seeing it and being a part of it. I could see coming again, although I believe perspective is imperative.
- Knowledge. The breakout sessions have been quite informative and have brought into focus a number of things that could / should be strong priorities to my company, if / when we ever get through the backlog of strong priorities that we currently have. I've learned a lot, and I want to present it in such a way that others can understand it.
- Music. Favorably impressed by EMC's decision to use a live orchestra for the keynote sessions. They really improved the presentations. Also some of the side-stage bands have been interesting and intriguing. The Customer Appreciation Event Concert of Fall Out Boy and One Republic was disappointing. Here's my take....
- A Prime Rib Carving Station at a concert? Lamest Crowd Ever. I love free beer, but the entitlement in a constant buffet of food is just ridiculous.
- All Fall Out Boy songs sound the same. I'm Sorry, I've tried, I just can't bring myself to understand and enjoy their sound.
- I thought Fall Out Boy's visuals were very disruptive and I liked that they appear to be challenging ideas of capitalism and government oppression. Also they really brought it with great energy.
- Sound was too low for One Republic and WAY Too Low for Fall Out Boy.
- One Republic I found to be diverse in the sense that they include a number of different styles of music in their repertoire. .Interesting - right? Yet they seemed to be stuck in an attempt to make popular music and end up with a whole lot of perfectly forgettable songs.
- The final song, an EDM remix of "If I Lose Myself" was the best thing out out there all night.
- I'm glad I went. Didn't feel at home like I do at Firefly Music Festival, that's for sure.
- Conversations - From informed technical interchange in the solutions expo to philosophizing with drunk Irishmen in a bar, I had a good time talking with people. Not everyone, I remain a more withdrawn person than that, but I made an effort to walk away with at least one contact to take home every day. I met that goal easily and had a great time while doing it.
Information Generation: Somewhat of a buzzword at this convention, I appreciate the focus and emphasis being made about the transformation of life that is occurring around us through the digitization and data collection of virtually every part of life. The Guru session with Jason Silva and Jake Porway was the highlight of the week for me. Jason encouraged us to embrace the ubiquitous nature of data today and Jake reminded us of the importance of giving back and seeking ways to improve the experience of the human family. This was great.
Disruptive: I'm ready to get back to my family. I'm also very thankful for the opportunity to get away from the daily grind and refocus on what is important. This needs to happen more often.
There was many more fun and interesting details, I'll probably think of over the coming hours. Who knows, maybe I'll add to this or maybe they will go forever unrecorded.
Here's hoping I can get back next year.
Jesse
