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Report from WarpTech 2000

That, in my opinion, is the best thing about these conferences. Unfortunately, it also means I get very little sleep. (Flying back home at 12:20 AM Monday morning didn't help matters in the area of sleep either, although I did get about an hour and a half at Chicago Midway waiting for my connecting flight.)

The sessions at WarpTech were excellent. The only problem was that there were too many of them going on at the same time. I actually missed the session about Odin. I heard that they are making some really good progress, though. The programming sessions I caught were really good, and Bill Schindler's XML and XSL sessions were very interesting.

Warped Jeopardy was great as usual. Wayne Swanson, Vice-president of VOICE, won, but it was a close game. Also playing and representing their OS/2 User Groups were POSSI's own Bill Schindler and SCOUG's Steve Schiffman.

Steven King's Keynote Address was very interesting. He didn't really say anything different than what we've heard before, but he said it in a much different way, and he clarified a few things. I actually took notes during his speech, but I don't have them with me right now.

I spent some money on OS/2 software, naturally. Sundial was there with their full list of products. I finally picked up a copy of Junk Spy. Pillarsoft was there showing off WarpZip and their other programs. Perfect Niche was there selling Smack. (Err, that doesn't sound right. I mean, they were selling copies the the Smack Labeling Software.) They were also selling copies of "Down to Earth REXX" by Bill Schindler. From my understanding, this is an updated version of "Teach Yourself REXX in 21 days." I guess it takes about 25 days now. :-)

Data Representations was there as well. Their new Professional version of Simplicity is an impressive product, although it's a bit out of the price range for the casual developer. Still, if I was going to be recommending a tool to do serious database development using any language, this product would be on a short list of such products.

The Wigwam was a really nice Hotel. The rooms were great. I truly enjoyed the lunches they served, although I think some of the meat and potato crowd wasn't as happy as I was. I heard that the meals were the same as what they sell in their 5-star restaurant.

Overall, I'd have to say that I enjoyed myself immensely. I think it was good that they focused on being a technical conference. If there is another WarpTech next year, I'll do my best to travel across the country again to be there.