BrainShare 2008

Well, we made it. BrainShare 2008, 6 days of dining, dancing and boozing 'til the wee hours of the morning. And in between, 8-10 hours of intense instruction. Endless miles of walking, up and down the Salt Palace. Standing in front of 300+ geeks and pretending to be an expert on NetWare and Linux. I always enjoy going. The people are the nicest, most helpful folks you'll ever meet. The food is top notch. Look at the logistics, three meals a day for 5500+ attendees and still a variety and quality that would compete with the best cruise ship cuisine.

The General Session production was really sweet. Here is a link to the opening of the Monday General Session. Geeko Ready to Rock

Novell did it again and pulled off a great conference. There were over 250 sessions for one to attend. The partners had great setups and information. The evening events were better than ever.

On Monday, we attended a party for the partners at the Depot. It's an old railroad station converted into a multi-level bar with a two story loft on the second floor. Novell invited a local biker group that sponsored BACA (Bikers Against Child Abuse) and a Gypsy Rose, a band from Houston, Texas, played for the evening. There was good food and free beer. My boss won a nice leather jacket from the raffle. Novell and IBM made a $12,000 donation to BACA.

Tuesday night was "Party with the Partners" in the Salt Palace. The theme was "World of Warcraft" and all the exhibitors were dressed up as various gaming characters. Again, good food and drink. There were lots of prizes and contests.

Wednesday was the main event for BrainShare. After a nice dinner and beverages, we all filed into the stadium of the Energy Solutions Arena to see Frank Caliendo perform and then Collective Soul gave a concert. I left early, as I was exhausted.

Thursday night was titled, "Meet the Experts". We went to a pre-event party over at the Marriott for a Novell cocktail party. It's become a tradition for the food on Thursday night to be an exhibition of local cuisine. I had Wild Boar and Venison Meatloaf. Very good combination of flavors. Thursday night is also a chance to meet and greet with the Novell product experts. People who write and design the various Novell products are present.

Friday is the finale and ends with the General Session to show what's on the horizon and to give away the 10 supped up SLED laptops. No one from my group won. Then it's off to the airport to get back home. All in all it's a great experience that every Novell geek should attend at least once.

Open Keyboard

In a post I made a while back, (I'm Just a Squirrel), I referenced being asked to propose a session for Novell's BrainShare 2008. Well, to update you, I was chosen to present a session on migrating NetWare to Linux along with a Novell consultant from Germany. We just completed the final draft and will be submitting it to the designer on Monday, March 3rd. The session will be presented on March 17th and 20th, at 3:00 PM and 2:30 PM, Mountain Time, respectively.

When I was first asked to speak at BrainShare, the first question out of everyone's mouth, I told was, "How much are they going to pay you?" Pay me!? For what?! (Novell does give you a free pass to the event, but you still have to provide transportation and lodging) As a long time Novell evangelist, to speak at a Novell event as an authority on a particular topic is an honor in itself. Compensation never entered my mind. The same goes for the articles I write. Novell gives authors "points" that can be redeemed for goodies, like iPods, jump drives and such. Even if they didn't reward points, I'd still submit articles. People, with a business background, just don't get the concept of doing something and not being paid.

My background is in the field of Science. In the Science community, the law is "Publish or Perish". You can be the best, highest paid, most disciplined Dr. Whatsoever, but if you've never published anything, you just another bum off the street, to your colleagues. And that's why I don't expect compensation for my articles or presentations. I want my name out there. In the IT community, when I meet someone and they say, "Mike Faris?", "You're articles have helped me to understand how Widget Manager is configured on Linux. Thanks.", it gives me a real warm feeling that I've actually helped someone who was looking for it. And ... For FREE!

There are technical support type web sites that require payment for searching a knowledge base. I think that's absurd and have found their solutions to be inaccurate and outdated. They rush to get solutions out there, probably untested, because they have a "bottom line." Yet, when you go to web sites that have free forums, you get many more individuals contributing to a resolution and even chastising those who give half-assed answers. Puzzling. Helping others for free...

I enjoy the work, as I have stated in the past, it's the recognition in my community and actually helping others that keeps me going, not compensation. Look around, there are thousands of others who stand beside me.