Robby on Rails

Just when you think that you’re sneaking through Fall/Winter without getting sick… it hits you. Been sick the last week and am finally coming up for air. :-)

Anyhow, I’m going to be traveling a few times over the coming weeks/months and wanted to reach out…

Dear Londoners,

A few of us from the Planet Argon team, (Andy, Paige, and myself) are heading to London in just over a week to visit one of our big clients. We’ll also be staying for a few more days to explore. If you’re interested in grabbing a few pints and/or interested in meeting up, drop me an email we’ll try to coordinate something when we’re over there. =)

Earlier today, I was booking flights for Graeme and myself as we’re heading to Minnesota soon to visit one of our clients. While purchasing the tickets on Travelocity, I was glad to know that they remember that I’m a vegetarian. However, I almost made the mistake of submitting the form with the following meal preference for Graeme.

I found it amusing that this was the default in the drop down.

I have been invited to speak at Ostrava on Rails in the Czech Republic this June. I hear that Jamis Buck and Geoffrey Grosenbach will also be speaking at this event. Once a few minor details are set, I’ll post more information about the talk that I am giving, which will related to the Business of Rails panel, which is where you see me speak in just a few weeks at RailsConf 2007 (Portland, OR).

If you’re going to be at the conference in Ostrava, let me know. I’m thinking that I’ll also try to visit Prague before or after the event… as I’ve seen and heard great things about both cities. I believe my lodging in Ostrava will be decided by the powers that be… but if you have any pointers as to where to stay while in Prague, let me know. :-)

So, the Microsoft Technology Summit started today, which I was invited to. I had to cancel my trip late last week so that I could help out the design and development team out on a project that we’re wrapping up. Our office has had some colds going around, so I’m putting in some extra time to help out.

If you were hoping to meet up with me on one of these evenings, I apologize. I may be heading up to Seattle in the coming weeks anyways and if you sent me an email, I’ll let you know when I am planning to.

To those at the MTS… have fun and keep us posted on what happens!

As mentioned a few weeks ago, I’ll be up in the Seattle area in a few weeks. I took the invitation to head to the 2007 Microsoft Technology Summit in Redmond, WA. When I received the invitation… my immediate response was, “Why me?”

Their response?

“The event is specifically for people other than Microsoft fanboys… they want to have a dialogue with influential members of the developer community outside of their comfort zone to see what we can learn from each other..”

Fair enough. Perhaps they’ll convince me to switch our entire team to Microsoft products… but I highly doubt my team would be cool with that. ;-)

It looks like Michael Koziarski (of Rails Core fame) will also be at the event. Supposedly, there will only be 50-60 people… so if you’re also going to be there, let me know.

I’m not sure what to expect yet from the event and they don’t have a web page dedicated to it. The most that I could find was a few blog posts from attendees of previous years. I plan to do some blogging during the event to share my experiences (good and bad).

p.s. thanks to those who invited me to have drinks/dinner while I’m staying in Bellevue. I’ll be responding to your emails in the next week. if you’re interested in meeting up, drop me a line.

I’m going to be hanging out in Redmond, WA. late next month… why? That… I’ll explain at a later date. ;-)

What I can say is that I’ll be available on a few evenings if anybody is interested in meeting up to talk shop, which can include anything from d3, ruby on rails, bdd, agile interaction design... to BBC comedy shows. :-)

I’ll be flying up from Portland to Seattle on Saturday, March 24th. I’m going to try and stay downtown for that night… and then will be staying at Sheraton Bellevue until Tuesday night. So… Saturday-Monday nights are currently open.

I’m also planning to head to the monthly Seattle.rb meeting on Tuesday, March 27th.

If you’re interested in meeting up, drop me a line.

UPDATE If you’re taking the kinky aspect of BDD too serious... please don’t email me. ;-)