20 things I learned at SMB Nation 2008

In no particular order:

1. Ben Sanders told me that Scott Cover is crazy, but I had no idea that he is that crazy. I have a photo to prove it -- can I post that, Scott?

2. Everyone is vertically challenged next to Miss Iceland -- except perhaps Jeremiah Ilges and the Space Needle.

3. On that note, there is absolutely no way the Space Needle can reach space. :P

4. Dana Epp contributed firewalling code to NetBSD and Linux way back when -- is that cool or is that cool?

5. Alaskan Amber is da bomb.

6. Note to Harry Brelsford: If SMB Nation needs someone to do daredevil bike stunts as part of the opening act next year, Jason Harrison is your man!

7. If you’re at a conference and you’re doing some emergency work but are stuck because you’re missing a network cable, screwdriver, or anything tech-related -- look for Kevin Royalty. He has everything, and I mean, EVERYTHING.

8. Aaron Booker, who interviewed Ben Yarbrough and others for Varvid.com, has a MacBook Pro that is personally autographed by Woz! How cool is that? He is selling it though. :(

9. What do you mean you can’t fit six persons and 18 bags into a car?

10. Kristen, Steve, and Terry: we couldn't have asked for a better team to join Calyptix! Thank you!!

11. Ben Sanders' new cell phone is so cool he can't figure it out!! (sorry, you can walk over to my cube and smack me now :P)

12. Wayne Small is a genie full of ideas in a bottle. I can literally talk to him for hours. He also has a weird travel companion with a pouch.

13. Once enough alcohol has been poured into a certain Marine, all hell breaks loose. Surprisingly, said Marine can still make his way home to the hotel room at 2am. Said Marine shall remain anonymous to protect the privacy of Scott McConnell.

14. Coders (ahem) are not designed to haul trade materials up San Francisco-like slopes.

15. Amy Babinchak sticks to her guns when presenting her talk -- I really respect that. And she hates FTP too, yay!

16. Speaking of which, what do you mean Susan Bradley is not Amy Babinchak? (sorry that you had to go through all that trouble, Susan! :))

17. Jeff Middleton really really knows his stuff and throws crazy parties but you all know that already!

18. You know your vendor cares about the community when they give away umbrellas in Seattle -- great show, Autotask!

19. Vendors (gosh I hate that word): If you find out that your booth will be located next to the PA speakers, buy some brain concussion insurance first.

20. Ben Yarbrough proves once and for all that people do love lawyers!

There are many other things I learned but I really should be working on that TODO list all of you wrote for me :)

Really enjoyed meeting you all at SMB Nation! Look forward to next year's or whenever we meet again!