Dev Connections recap - Wow, that was quick!

I can't believe Dev Connections is already over.  Perhaps it was the self induced memory loss that's saving me from remembering my horrible luck in the casino, but the show did seem to speed by.  All in all, I thought it was a good show - good, but not the best.  I'm not docking points for technical content, I thought that was all superb.  It was the peripherals that I've seen done better in the past.  My biggest gripe was the lack of available refreshments.  Manning the booth for most of the conference, you quickly get a dry throat and there usually wasn't a bottle of water in sight. When I went to TechEd orlando, it seemed that there were more water coolers there than people.  I would suggest making water available for dev connections.  And what was with the air in that hotel?  I've never before had such a dry throat and chapped lips hit so suddenly!  I guess it's the extra oxygen pumped in the air to keep everyone alert.

I met a bunch of people at the booth, so many at times that lines stretched around the corner.  The best part was, the traffic wasn't just for people looking to get stamps.  If you weren't at the show, there was a drawing for a Harley, but in order to enter you had to get a card stamped by every vendor.  That tends to drive some extra traffic, but it also puts people whose only interest is winning the Harley, in your booth.  That's wasn't such a terrible thing, as I got to meet some great people who's paths I may not have otherwise crossed.

I also got to spend a lot of time with my coworkers, some of whom I've never really seen outside of the office.  I can now say, I work with the greatest group of people.  We managed to have fun whether standing around in the booth, or even just eating breakfast together.  Not only are they skilled at their jobs, but they're skilled at life too, and I'm glad to see that. 

At the end of the show, there was a Best Of Connections award ceremony.  Infragistics got nominated for NetAdvantage for .NET, and made it to the final round.  I was in the middle of explaining to a gentleman why Infragistics was #1 in the UI tools space, when I had to excuse myself to go and represent Infragistics (and accept an award should we win) - and we won!!!  Before I could even get back to the booth, another customer carried the news back to my coworkers.   I came back with the award in my hand moments later and I think the smile on all of our faces made everything worth it.  The dry mouth, chapped lips, the gambling debt, all disappeared as we looked at the award.  I didn't get to make an acceptance speech there, so consider this it: 

Thanks to everyone who made this possible;  the customers who have always been there to tell us what to do, and sometimes where to go ;)  I truly appreciate the time you take to share the good, the bad, and sometimes the ugly with us.  And thanks to the skilled developers, QA and DS staff, Docs team, and the Visual Design team at Infragistics who together create the most impressive product on the market.  Now before my head gets too big, there's always room for improvement.  Being the best in the crowd doesn't mean you can't be better.  I'm lucky to work with a bunch of over achievers and workaholics who are always trying to beat themselves - and that's just what we'll continue to do.