MMS 2007 - Sunday
Summary: I'm here at the conference and have registered. So here's a quick summary of the attendee swag bag, and other trivia. Spoiler alert: I go into a bit more detail than another rambling SMS engineer ;-)
So I'm here in San Diego, at the Omni. The trip was smooth, I've chatted with a few folks (mainly product team guys), gotten settled, and even registered (only speakers and staff can do so today). So the answer to the all important question ("is the swag bag worthy") is Yes. I think people will like it. It has wheels and an extendible drag-along handle. It might be a tad smaller than 2003 bag, but it's more briefcase oriented. There's a discrete Intel logo on the front side, and an almost equally discrete MMS 2007 logo on the back side. I've uploaded the first picture at the MMS swag bag wiki.
Inside there's a lot of inserts. My favorite is the System Center insert, which is quite substantial and reinforces the size of the suite. And another advertised myITforum, for those who have missed it so far. Otherwise, there's a good MOM (ok, SCOM) notepad, an Intel t-shirt, a System Center / MMS water bottle, and a bunch of demo CD's. Pretty good.
One of the inserts proudly announces MMS 2008 is in Vegas, which we knew. But did we know it would be April 28th to May 2nd? We do now.
The badge holder is a little simpler than most years, but I prefer that - it's less obtrusive.The pen that comes with it is small and designed to hang from a belt loop - different but could be handy.
So that's the exciting news from the first day.The even more exciting event for the day was the SMS Expert get together. The turnout was great (100 people?) and the provision of beverages and snacks was very generous. Most (or at least a large fraction) of the the old-timers were there (including Ed with a little red purse), and many new people. MANY great conversations occurred - lots of reminiscing, even more serious conversations, and some of the usual chatting. Well done SMS Expert!