TechEd 99 - Almost blue

Almost Blue

The UK contingent at TechEd meets the Blues Brothers and almost breaks into a dance.

July 6 - When everyone we met at the show asked if we'd be along later for the Country Drinks, the phrase conjured up a short trip by tram or taxi to a field on the outskirts of town, where women wearing national dress serve picnic food and beer on gingham tablecloths.
    Er, no.
    In fact the word 'country' in this context refers to country of origin: UK, Italy, Germany etc. The various country parties were all in full swing by the time we clocked out of the DNJ office for the day and so we had to weave our way through many different countries to get to our own party.
    The UK party was the only one we could discern with any kind of entertainment, a tribute band by the name of The Blues Brothers Dedication Review. Attendees were handed plastic Blues Brothers hats and sunglasses (overprinted with Visual Studio logos of course) on their way in, and by the time we got there the 'joint' was really 'jumping' (as they say).
    A hundred or so developers wearing identical black plastic hats and glasses with black TechEd rucksacks on their backs jiggling and jerking to the pumping R&B tunes must qualify as one of the most bizarre sights of the show so far. Sure, it's hard to get that late-night, smokey club feel at 7.30pm in a brightly-lit room the size of a small international airport terminal, but the band were consumate professionals and managed to inspire even the most stoically non-physical to dance, or at the very least tap their feet grumpily.
    The songs were all from the Blues Brothers movie and all were played note perfect, leading those of us sad enough to notice thinking that someone must have spent many hours transcribing solos from the video.
    Also, we suspect many guests were taken in by the Dutch method of serving beer, namely a hasty squirt followed by the swipe of a knife across the foam on top. The error is in thinking that foam has no alcoholic content, so easily the close second bizarre sight of the day was the same black hatted and rucksacked Blue Brothers clones weaving their way across the RAI plaza for the tram ride home.

The Conference Bag as fashion statement

The Lost T-shirts of TechEd

The closest we got to playing games at TechEd

Six reasons to be at TechEd!

Dinner's ready...