There are some great tips and tricks to Lotusphere out there. I thought about doing some of my own, but the only one I can think of is:

BUY ME A BEER!

Other than that, check out some other sites for some great ideas (some I’ve even missed):
– Richard Schwartz (who also does some LDD articles LIVE (sort of) from the ‘Sphere)
– Julian Robichaux (from NSFTools.com)
– Rocky Oliver (NotesGeek)
– Ben Langhinrichs (Maker of the cool Lotusphere Agenda nsf… WHICH HAS JUST BEEN UPDATED TO INCLUDE DUPLICATE SESSIONS!!!)
and of course, you can’t forget The Turtle from the Gonzo Lotusphere site… A MUST READ!
(There is a mirror of his site here …he’s been having some server issues lately)

Do yourself a favor and take a look at these. You won’t be sorry…

The message came in at 7:30ish last night. We can finally access our online accounts. They’re using Lotus Workplace as the front end, and despite some problems with accessing the mail there, it’s working okay. I’m real excited because IBM/Lotus is using an application from OpenNTF.org! They’re using domBulletin for the discussion board. Very cool stuff! BTW, if you want to e-mail me while I’m there (besides the normal work and home addresses which I will be checking), you can also e-mail me at: 141738(at)online2004(dot)com.

Here’s what I look like to the rest of you:

This is how I look to myself:

Just before Lotusphere every year, I try to figure out what sessions to attend, what tests I’m going to take, and what I’m going to do with my free time. As I near departure time (T minus 3 days and counting), I’m feeling the crunch. Hopefully, I can get over this ‘hurdle’ and keep my focus.

I also have had a great time on eBay. I bought a wireless LAN PCMCIA card, a PCMCIA modem, and a CompactFlash PCMCIA reader card all on eBay. It rocks, and when I get back, I’m going to sell everything I can get my hands on.

On the website front, some of you should be seeing something different about your bookmarks to this site, as well as your address fields. Yup, that’s the LK (Lion King) logo up there. That little item is thanks to this cool site that takes your graphics and turns them into FAVICON.ICO files. I found the link on another site, and if they see this…leave a reply so I can give you credit for showing me this site.

Julian Robichaux from nsftools.com has mentioned on his blog how those of us “Domino Bloggers” should try to get together to talk, share stories and share beverages. (I’m trying hard to not make a Highlander reference.) He’s even made up the logo that you see on the right and is making up some stickers to use. What I want to do is take his logo and add it to mine to make up a t-shirt design. Nothing fancy, just something so that others know. Check out Julian’s site for more information. Hope to see some of you there!

My plans at Lotusphere are looking more like my plans while I was Grand Knight in the Knights of Columbus. I’m planning to attend the Turtle (Gonzo) bash on Saturday night, the Domino Blogging gathering on Sunday, and the OpenNTF BOF on Monday night. I also am scheduled to do a job tasks analysis type of thing on Saturday morning. It’s going to be a blast!

I’m writing this from Msgr. Hunt Council #3312, which sponsors St. Francis deSales Circle #758. From what I could remember, this is the first time that this circle has hosted an outing at their sponsoring council. We are heading to The Fridge, the first and only refrigerated toboggan run in Michigan. It snowed about one inch so far today, and it was coming down pretty good the last time I looked. It should make for a good time.

I really miss these guys here. Seeing Fred Mainville (State Squires Director) and Bruce Hopkins (State Chief Squire) taking care of the business here in Michigan does me proud to be a member and a past State Squires Officer. One of these days, I’m going to sit down and write all I can think about or remember about the Michigan Columbian Squires. I have made friendships here that will last a lifetime.

Just got a call from my brother-in-law about taking his place on his Thursday night bowling league. Last night, he thinks he might have blown out his hamstring. (Told you bowling was a dangerous sport!) He’s going to the doctor today to get it checked out. GET BETTER SOON, BRO!

I received this picture from my friend, Detroit Area Squires Director Matty Dziewit:

Sorry for the quality…I was in a rush! On the left, you have the State Deputy of the great state of Michigan, George Dann, I’m the handsome (but plump) guy in the middle, and on the right is the State Secretary Kevin MacFarland, Sr.. The award I am receiving is the Michigan Star Council Award. It was a great honor to get this award, another honor receiving it from the State Deputy and an even bigger honor standing with my friend, Kevin (who we “in the hood” affectionately call K-Mac).

On Friday, my wife blew out her back, just before she was going to go out for her birthday (BTW, HAPPY BIRTHDAY JENNIFER!). On Saturday, I drove out to Lansing to help a friend campaign for a state position in the Knights of Columbus at the opening weekend of the Michigan K of C State Bowling Tournament, and I wind up bowling. Then on Sunday, Jennifer’s back got worse, yet we still went out to go shopping. Her birthday was Sunday and we did nothing for it. I hope I can make up for that at Lotusphere somehow.