TechEd in Banglore, 2nd Edition, Day 0

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I arrived in Bangalore this afternoon, in time to get registered for this week’s TechEd conference – my second time in Bangalore.  More about the road to get here at the end, but kudos to our driver Albert for navigating the traffic and finding the hotel.  The first time I attended TechEd here, the registration was cumbersome, with preprinted badges stacked up on tables to be fetched, and manual checklists to be verified against.  Today, the badges were prepared in generic bundles, but personal data was printed on the spot with a label printer (minimal, but not zero waste).

Handouts were given out, along with a cute USB stick in the shape of a bottle opener.  I’ll need to take a look at the after the SAP Mentor reception tonight, organized by Mark Finnern (and, no doubt, Maria Farrales and others).  Alas, my prep work is not yet complete; the invitations to sessions continue, the Meet-The-Moderator session details for Wednesday are somewhere in my email queue, and more invites pour in.

I wanted to arrive the day before and get my badge squared away before the big crowds descend tomorrow.

Because I didn’t get to the conference area early enough to wander around (and don’t have the SAP badge for Tuesday’s intramural sessions), I don’t know if there are the same number of portable buildings as last time, or if there are permanent walls and roof.  Looks like power generators are deployed to combat outages we experienced in several Indian locations, albeit brief.

I think the “Help Desk” was the most crowded check-in station, and not too deep there anyway.

On my way out, I spotted the coffee stand.  After leaving Mysore at 10:00 and arriving at the conference center around 17:30, I could have used a jolt.

Unfortunately… not.

The road here

We arranged for a vacation prior to arrival, given the late timing in the year.  I’ve posted a few blogs and pictures, for those interested (links below).  A few observations about India, technology, culture, and business processes…

Everyone we meet has been extremely friendly and curious (“where from?”); even hawkers are kind, perhaps too kind, with a persistence that quickly tires. Shopping in some stores is the complete opposite of “service” than in the U.S., where clerks pile one article after another in front of you, barely giving a chance to breathe or think about what you’re seeing.  If anyone has tips on how to say “stop, no more”, let me know.

We traveled through multiple tech levels, as business exists side-by-side with farmers and other working class.  My internet connectivity was sparse, but I attribute that more to my Sprint Android phone, which takes multiple clicks to set data on and off, as much as loss of 3G data in many places.

I’ve got more about sales clerks, journals, and carbon copies, but the thoughts will need to wait.

• Elephant ride ➕
• Kerala Houseboat
• Cooking with Abesh [ Abesh ]