IOUG-A Live! 2005 - Final Thoughts

During the conference (particularly on my blog), I’ve taken friendly pot shots at a number of people, but the truth is that this conference is a huge undertaking, put on in large part by volunteers, from the conference committee (putting in huge hours to review papers and choose speakers, and then making sure every speaker is where they need to be when they need to be there) to the speakers themselves (coming up with a topic, researching and preparing an abstract, a paper and a power point presentation) and the board members (except Ian, I still have no idea what he does.)

Seriously, I’ve made some gentle fun of a number of people, Stan Yellott, Ian Abramson, Judi Hotsinpeller, Rich Niemiec, the board, the attendees, Disney, Paul & Pradeep (my co-workers) and, I’m sure, others. I hope everyone realizes that I do this because it’s kind of hard to be funny (at least for me) without pot shots. I certainly take a fair number at myself as well.

So to everyone I’ve taken a shot at (named or unnamed), please know that I appreciate the things you bring to the conference, from the great (volunteer work) to the small (attending the conference, so that there’s an audience to justify it’s continued existence), and know that it was another great year.

Except for my rental car company. They deserve whatever scorn and derision I can possibly heap upon them.

Cheers from the conclusion of IOUG-A Live! 2005, the last ever Live! I learned a lot, networked more, and if I managed to walk away with a bag full of free swag as well, that was merely an added bonus.

I hope to see everyone at Collaboration 2006 in Nashville.

Copyright © May 4, 2005 by Liam Johnson. http://www.liamjohnson.net