Saturday, July 11, 2009

On my way to Microsoft WPC 2009 New Orleans

So here we go 7global attending WPC 2009, yes the date does say the 10th and the conference only really starts on the 13th. Well it takes all day to get to New Orleans and I want to hit the sites and shops on Saturday.

Plus to be fair I do have quite a busy day Sunday with meetings from midday and a meet and greet with the UK Microsoft guy’s and gal’s early evening.

I would also say from previous experiences attending the MS WW Hosting summit in Seattle a few times getting in late the day before the start makes the first couple of days a bit of a blur. And as this is my first WPC I want to make the most of it.

Right now I’m in Philadelphia waiting for my connection and I might add already feeling a bit tired. I got up @5:50 to catch a train to Manchester @07:22 flew out of Manchester on US Air 735 @ 11:30 on a 7 hour flight and arrived here @ 13:30 US East coast time. So as I type this blog battling with the unusable Wi-Fi provided by ATT in terminal B Philly International my transfer to New Orleans leave at 19:30 local time and its only 14:45! Oh yes an hour to clear customs, the computers were slow today, apparently!

Anyway the bonus of the day so far was Gran Torino on the in flight movies, I missed this at the flicks and was very pleased to catch it today, Clint at his absolute best. Going to move and look for a better Wi-Fi connection now...

Oh and mobile calls cost 125ppm, 99ppm to receive, SMS 49p, 14.99 per day for 25Mb data on both NTT and T-Mobile. Daylight robbery!

16:30 had a look at the shops and food halls, quite a good choice, you can fill up on traditional Americana fair or sample any amount of pizza, pasta, Chinese and salads as you like all ranging from $8-15. Will try later...

Sat in the main shopping area on a wooden rocking chair in the middle of the walkway (there are others doing the same) next to a pillar that has a power socket. Ah yes power for my laptop, this means that I can watch a DVD of something I’ve downloaded from BBC iPlayer. I think I’ll go for Glastonbury highlights.

Flight to New Orleans left on time @19:30 just a 2:20 flight, managed to get a bit of sleep and felt quite good when we arrived. This was of course short lived when we had to hang around for what seem like ages at baggage claim.

22:10 Arrived at the Crown Plaza Hotel, the weather is hot and sticky, a jazz band is playing on the corner and the streets are packed with people. The temptation is to get out there and sample the atmosphere the reality is I’m off to bed..zzzzZ

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