This year the General Sessions were held in a theater-like setting in a semi-circular bowl - I'm guessing there was seating for 7,000 and filled by nearly 5,000.  Better than average sound and lighting and really easy viewing of the stage.

On Monday I sat on the main floor and was too close to the stage - the huge back drop displays were best seen a few rows back.  Tuesday I was up on the 2nd level balcony and had a great perspective on the event.  Wednesday I was back on the floor sitting with the User Group Leaders.

While the general sessions were staged extremely well, what I liked best were the meeting rooms - spacious, well lit, good audio and mostly good video projectors.  I wanted to use max resolution in my presentation and had to neck it down to 1024x768.  It felt like I was working on my iPhone! That's a small complaint.  The great news was that we didn't have to sit in each other's laps during the sessions.  Thank goodness for lots of seating!

I also liked the fact that we were all (mostly) in the same physical zone.  That made the meet and greet (which is vital to me) to be a constant and easy thing to do.  I think I shook at least 500 hands over the 5 days I was there.  My goal was 2,000 but I kept pausing to listen to friends and peers tell me about cool stuff.

This is a bit off topic, but Monday's session dropped my jaw.  Cloudy CAD vs. Workstation CAD - I'm terrified of the french revolution.

I was impressed with the insights that James Cameron brought to managing a development project; his comment (paraphrased) that the camaraderie of success between a small group of peers is the finest reward rang true to my heart.  I'll never consider a 3d printer in the same way after listening to him.

Dr. McLurkin's swarm of robots was fun, but I didn't get it until he showed a slide with an image of ants carrying a corn flake (a non-naturally occurring food source I think James called it).  Cooperative behavior furthering mutual survival.  He is approaching a technology that might allow machines to behave as brilliantly.  I was delighted to shake his hand and chat briefly at the CSWP event.

On Wednesday the Smackdown was splendidly conceived and executed - great fun.  I've seen several of these vaudeville acts over the years and this was one of the best.

(yes, the Big Event was too loud and too dark [was that really chili?] - I would rather listen to Wynton Marsalis.  More importantly, I'd like to talk to my peers rather than scream at them!)