Posts Tagged ‘las vegas’
Me, Frank, Dean, Sammy and Tiger
Turbo was caught unawares at the TechTarget Online ROI Summit in downtown Austin yesterday as colleagues took a photo of him in “mobile warrior” mode. Among his electronic devices identified on the table: A Verizon Mi-Fi hotspot, Turbo’s Verizon LG feature phone, a 5th gen Apple iPod Touch, a “Blu” phone (quadband, works on GSM networks around the world, serves as the Turbo “bat” phone and FM radio), a Plantronics Pro HD bluetooth headset, an HTC Wildfire Android tablet, and Turbo’s newfangled Samsung Chromebook, which is looking like a bargain at the price ($216) compared to the new Google Chromebook Pixel ($1,300!)
All these people in Barcelona attending Mobile World Congress, and seemingly so little news coming out of there.
For me, the key headline was the Nokia 105 which, while yawned at by most westerners, has the potential to be the downmarket phone king as Nokia moves more aggressively into emerging markets.
It’s a $20 phone that offers the basics, including phone calls, SMS, an FM-radio and a flashlight. And, 35 days of standby with 12.5 hours of talk time.
If it were a quad band GSM phone, I’d have it on my short list for second phones.
The other big news was IBM’s MobileFirst strategy, which, while not nearly as sexy as yet another yawnifying tablet device, does provide some grown-up guidance and direction for companies actually trying to pull together something resembling a unified mobile strategy.
Here’s what IBM’s Robert Leblanc, IBM vice president, middleware, had to say about the IBM MobileFirst initiative:
“To date, mobile computing has been dominated by discussions of new smartphones, operating systems, games and apps. But enterprises have yet to tap into the potential of mobile business. Just as the Internet transformed the way we bank, book vacations and manage our healthcare, mobile computing is also transforming industries. As these devices become ingrained in everything that we do, businesses are now in the palms of their customers’ hands. IBM MobileFirst is designed to make the transformation to becoming a mobile enterprise a reality.”
Visit here to learn more about IBM’s MobileFirst initiative, and go here to watch the IBM Mobile webcast that took place in Barcelona yesterday.
As for me, I’m packing up my mobile devices and taking them on the road.
In fact, I packed them up and took them to the TechTarget Online ROI Summit here in downtown Austin yesterday, and my colleagues thought it was worthy of a Facebook photo.
To which I explained, “I was traveling light!” (See the photo caption for an explanation of what’s what.)
Where am I off to, you ask? To Vegas, of course. My second home! IBM Pulse 2013 kicks off on Sunday, and I’m heading out early manana to take in a little golf history lesson.
That is to say, I have a 2:30 tee time at Las Vegas National, the very same course where Tiger Woods won his first PGA Tour event back in 1996, and where Dean and Frank and Sammy and the rest of the Rat Pack used to hang out and swill martinis after a long hard-fought 18 holes.
I’d like to tell you I’m playing there because of all this history and Tiger lore, but the fact is the old Scotsman from GolfNow gave me a very aggressively priced tee time, which no other courses were offering!
After that, however, it’s all work, and I’m looking forward to interviewing a number of IBM Tivoli luminaries for the IBM Pulse Livestream channel, including some of our business partners, analysts, and the man himself, Deepak Advani, the general manager of IBM Tivoli.
I want to also remind you of Pulse on Vivastream, where you can go do some preliminary social networking. Also check out the killer feature there in the right hand column of the main page, the “DIY Videos” where you can get some early previews of Pulse session speakers. Kil-ler.
In fact, let me do this: Below is my list of “Everything You Ever Needed To Know About IBM Pulse 2013 But Were Afraid to Ask Turbo”:
- Hashtag: #ibmpulse — all roads lead back to Twitter. Twitter is all-seeing and all-knowing at Pulse 2013.
- Vivastream at Pulse — How you can maintain your crazy Pulse schedule, find your long, lost systems admin buddy…orrr, that really cute girl whose lip you accidentally bused in that crazy, countrified Carrie Underwood mosh pit.
- IBM Pulse 2013 Conference Site — If you’re lost at IBM Pulse…or even if you’re not…this is always a good place to start. You can also use this page to find the video interviews I’ll start conducting on Monday.
- IBM Pulse Smart Site (Registered attendees only) — The official keeper of your IBM Pulse calendar.
- IBM Pulse On Facebook — Because we recognize there are people like me who spend way too much time on Facebook, and if you want to get their attention…
And now I want to pass you on to my good friend Rebecca’s Top Things You Shouldn’t Miss at Pulse 2013 — it does not include a round with Turbo at Las Vegas National, but other than that, it’s a great list.
Meanwhile, keep an eye for me on Saturday. I’ll be the one driving down the Las Vegas Strip looking for errant drives.
New IBM Global Financing For Business Partners
Click to enlarge. As the graphic itself explains, innovation starts with appropriately allocated capital. By investing in the right projects and by promoting sound corporate governance, financial development helps increase the rate of technological innovation and productivity growth. IBM today announced a major new financing program today that helps IBM Business Partners and their clients make such investments.
Hello there. I’m back in Austin, Texas, and no worse for the wear.
Las Vegas was…well, Las Vegas. Although I must say, I was most impressed with Wynn Las Vegas.
Steve Wynn has been a lightning rod of controversy during his reign as a resort mogul in Las Vegas (and, now, Macau), and having only seen him in interviews on “60 Minutes,” I can’t say as I had much of an opinion one way or the other.
But, after staying at his 60+ story hotel on the Strip these past few days, I can attest to the level of personal detail and attention he puts into his properties.
Upon arrival on Sunday, I waited a good 30 minutes just to check in. But, upon reflection, I guess that’s a good sign for Mr. Wynn and his couterie, and they were kind enough to bring me a bottle of water to myself and other customers who were patiently waiting.
But if hotels can do such a great job of enabling a streamlined checkout (video, phone check out, express checkout, etc.), there’s clearly still room for much improvement on better “processing” customers when they arrive. Smarter check-in, anybody?
But all in all, very impressed with the Wynn brand experience.
As for the Word of Mouth Marketing Association Summit, I’m still processing all the great info I took in, and may dedicate a more thoughtful post on my experience about that later.
But, since I was pre-occupied for a few days, we’ve had some important IBM news that fell below my blogging radar.
The most notable announcement emerged earlier today, one for IBM Business Partners and their clients.
IBM announced today it is providing IBM Business Partners with $4 billion in financing for credit-qualified clients over a period of 12 months.
This financing, through IBM Global Financing, can make obtaining credit easier and more accessible to IBM’s global partner ecosystem and their clients to acquire advanced technologies such as cloud, analytics and PureSystems.
Also, IBM is launching a new mobile app as another step to simplify the way IBM’s Business Partners can apply for and secure financing for their clients within minutes via any mobile device.
This financing initiative builds on the $1 billion in financing IBM Global Financing made available through IBM Business Partners for small and midsized businesses in 2011, which resulted in 6,800 global companies using financing and enabling them to invest in some of these important emerging technologies.
To learn more, you can visit IBM Global Financing here.
Live @ Information On Demand 2012: Think Big…Really Big
Though David Copperfield may be keeping an eye out over the Las Vegas Strip, this year’s mantra to “Think Big” at IBM Information On Demand 2012 is no illusion. There are big issues to tackle, we’ve got more data than ever, being acquired at a pace unmatched in recorded history, and amidst all that information are insights that we all can use to better run our businesses — if we could just find them. Our time in Vegas this week should prove to be a great start.
Greetings from Viva Las Vegas, Nevada.
It’s Sunday, and if it’s Sunday, it’s football…and, Information on Demand 2012.
It seems like I was only here a short year ago…and come to think of it, I was!
How time, and technology, flies…but, as the industry goes, so goes IOD. This year, there are more issues to discuss, more folks to talk to, and more technologies to cover, even as all we IOD attendees are being asked to “Think Big.”
Which is a good thing, because there are some big issues on the information management table that need discussing.
We’ve got more data than ever, being acquired at a pace unmatched in recorded history, and amidst all that information are insights that we all can use to better run our businesses, our governments, even our lives, yet not necessarily with any clear boundaries about who can do what with who’s information and when and under what circumstances!
But boy, if only we could make sense out of it all.
It reminds me of the magic show I went to see yesterday afternoon at the MGM Grand here in Vegas, starring none other than the world-renowned illusionist, David Copperfield.
If you’ve never seen him perform, first of all, I highly recommend you taking in his show at the Hollywood Theatre there.
Copperfield is the genuine article, an illusionist whose humanity surpasses his skills as a magician. An entertainner who made a Studebaker appear onstage from out of nowhere, the story behind which that explained the import of that car to Copperfield and his family nearly bringing tears to my eyes.
One minute I was laughing, one minute I was surprised and astonished, and the next minute I was crying…in my book, the mark of a superior entertainer who understands his audience.
And such is often the case in the realm of effective information management. One minute, we have our handle on the situation, making sense of the information at our disposal…and the next, a new requirement, a new technology, a new methodology comes along and throws a wrench in our proverbial analytical fan.
But like Copperfield, we must always be thinking of our audience. Who are they, what motivates them, what do they need from us, what do they NOT need. Often it’s not what you say but what you don’t that most makes the point.
Which is why we’re here in Vegas, to Think Big. To put our big boy and girl thinking caps on to figure out how we can handle this additional onslaught of information effectively and efficiently, with grace under pressure.
As part and parcel of that, we’re here to attend the over 700 technical education sessions, the 110 hands on labs, and to hear the 300+ customer speakers who have been there, done that in Information On Demand 2012.
And finally, to also hopefully have a little fun along the way. It is Vegas, after all. And all that nonsense about what happens here, stays here?? You don’t really believe any of that bit, do you?
It IS 2012, after all. What’s not picked up by a smartphone will be Tweeted by your colleagues and read by your boss back at the home office. So behave yourself!
Because all of that, and much, much more is what constitutes the Information On Demand experience, and that’s what myself and our extended IOD 2012 social team will be here to cover for you.
So, check your IOD Smartsite or program guide in your badge, and get going, and please keep an eye on Twitter, hashtag #ibmiod, for all the latest.
AIMing For An Immense Market Opportunity
I made it to my first session at IBM Impact 2012 earlier this afternoon here at the Venetian Hotel and Casino in Viva Las Vegas.
The session was a stage setter for the rest of the event, and I just HAD to share what I learned with the rest of the world.
At IBM Impact 2012 today, IBM market advisor Rahul Sahni provided a comprehensive overview of the application and middleware (AIM) market. Here, Sahni highlighted a few key macro-economic factors that are affecting the IT market.
Rahul Sahni, a market development advisor with IBM’s AIM and ICS organizations, shared a market view for the Application and Middleware Infrastructure market, which we know is changing underneath our feet.
Rahul’s presentation was excellent, hitting the highlights of both what is shaping the market, and what’s driving some substantial changes in it.
The Economic Shakeout
He set up his presentation with some macroeconomic data: Japan still coming out of recession, Europe still a wildcard with obvious volatility in the south, the US/Canada holding steady in the 3-4% GDP growth range, and the BRIC’s coming in for a gentle landing, some more softly than others.
There are some potential threats to business growth: In the developing markets, the currency devaluations. In the mature markets, the sovereign debt crises. And yet despite all this volatility, the storage and software infrastructure markets remain strong.
Mr. or Mrs. CIO, Can You Spare A Project?
Why? CIO plans require strong IT infrastructures. If you look at where IT execs are spending, the sweet spots include AIM middleware, where often one or several IT projects will include parts of the AIM middleware portfolio.
Becoming Agile For The Upturn
Of those, projects required Agile/OOD systems, process simplification, industry and/or government compliance, cost reduction mandates, the amount and availability of data, and finally, workforce mobility and productivity are the top six drivers. Ergo, the AIM market is expected to grow some 6% in 2012, and will grow to an estimated $1 billion opportunity in 2013.
Economic conditions are such that key projects have resulted in more demand for small IT initiatives with short term ROI and a need for greater productivity and efficiencies. Pie-in-the-sky projects with long-term prospects for growth have been mostly sidelined. Show me the money, and show it to me soon (meaning, the value that will be returned against the project).
The AIM Market Is Growing…and Changing
Of the three AIM market segments, there’s Application Infrastructure (growing at 8%), Business Process Managment (11%), and Connectivity and Integration (2%). In the first, key growth drivers are the enterprise need to provide transparency, reduce costs, and stay competitive.
For BPM, cloud adoption is now a key driver in BPM as smaller and medium-sized businesses’ processes become more complex and as BPM cloud solutions become more price-aggressive.
For Connectivity and Integration, on-premise integration can now be matched by cloud services in functionality and also aggressive pricing.
So, writ large, the AIM market is growing today because its products can help simplify IT complexity, and help organizations better understand, improve, and make more transparent their business processes.
Organizations also need to make the best use of what they already have in the way of IT investments, and AIM products provide the ability to integrate existing applications, infrastructure, and processes with new development initiatives. This becomes especially critical as we see continued activity in mergers, acquisitions, and divestitures. All to applications, infrastructures and processes have to be integrated somehow.
This Is Not Your Father’s Application And Integration Market
So what about some of these new arenas? Mobile platforms will most definitely continue to grow and evolve, with market data suggesting that enterprise investment in mobile application development will increase at the rate of 20-30 percent per annum in order to meet the rising demand for customer applications.
Customer facing industries rank highest with need to develop mobile enterprises, with virtual guns being held to their heads as they compete for customer-centricity in a growing but younger customer base.
Application Convergence Will Rule The IT World
Also noteworthy, over the next few years, the lines between the Web, hybrid and native apps will blur and mobile enterprise application platforms (MEAPs), portals, other web development approaches will converge into a new generation multichannel application development tool. Those organizations unprepared for this transition may soon find themselves on Application Island with no place to row back to.
Become Your Cloud: The Great Mobile Gold Landrush of 2012
It goes without saying that the cloud is inherently critical to this new environment. Cloud based development is lowering the cost of adoption and increasing the speed with which companies can roll out mobile solutions, and a significant portion of the IT opportunity associated with mobile enterprise initiatives will come not from the purchase of devices and network services — the bright and shiny objects that all your friends and family get so googly-eyed about — but from the associated software, consulting, system integration and security services.
The Future’s So Bright…
I’ll call it “the Great Mobile Gold Rush of 2012” — remember, we’re laying the tracks for a new foundation of computing. The excitement may be in the devices, but a little sleight of hand reveals the ridiculously gargantuan opportunity in the virtual picks and shovels required to make it all work.
To which point Rahul began to close his session, reassuring the business partners in attendance and beyond that this is a market IBM is committed to. WebSphere still makes up a substantial share of IBM Software revenues, and IBM’s 2015 roadmap reveals that 50% of segment profit is expected to come from IBM Software. (And no, we’re not feeling any pressure over here or anything!)
IBM’s four key growth initiatives against that 2015 roadmap reveal two obvious intersects with the AIM market, our growth markets, where much of the middleware layer is being laid for those future railroad tracks, and cloud computing, to which IBM has made massive investments in growth, organic and acquisition, over the past several years.
Throw in a little business analytics technology to help you understand your AIM infrastructure performance, and there’s plenty of upside in the AIM.
My takeaway: The AIM future’s so bright you gotta wear some of those Google augmented reality glasses, but if you can’t see your way through evolving with the convergence of the mobile enterprise and the cloud you’ll have few business processes left to worry about managing!
The IBM Pulse 2012 Circus Begins
Greetings from Viva Las Vegas, Nevada.
I arrived here under the cover of darkness yesterday.
Actually, I arrived in the afternoon, but “cover of darkness” sounds so much more dramatic.
It’s been a crazy week on the road, but we’re only halfway through. Now, Pulse 2012 starts.
Pulse is one of my favorite IBM Software events. It was Tivoli that brought me back to my native Texas, and to Austin in particular, in the summer of 2001.
I made a lot of great friends during my time working with the Tivoli brand, and I also got a lot of great work done.
And Tivoli has evolved over the past eleven years. Dramatically.
I need not tell any Tivolian, customer or employee, that.
For my money, it’s evolved all for the better. The focus of the Tivoli business has far expanded well beyond its core systems management focus, which is what it was centered around when I arrived.
Here’s a factoid: I’ve never seen a Cirques du Soleil performance. Until last night, when I took in the “Ka” show here at the MGM Grand.
That might seem like a random transition. But follow me here. A Cirques du Soleil performance is like one big ecosystem that must be managed across its disparate parts.
A former theatre major myself, I watched in fascination at all the systems that were in play during the Cirques’ performance of “Ka.” The massive staging and hydraulic systems. The flying systems that allowed the performers to defy gravity. The house staff that welcomed the audience into the show. The audience itself. The cast. The scores of stagehands in the background.
If you’ve seen a Cirques du Soleil performance, you know of which I speak: It’s a massive and complex linkage of disparate systems coming together to create the wonder that are their shows.
These days, your world is a lot like all those systems. And to be able to understand and manage it all, and extract new value out of the knowledge you have about all those systems…well, that’s where Tivoli comes in.
I’m going to leave it at that, lest you think I’m completely off my rocker. But, I’ve done my homework preparing for Pulse 2012, and between the focus on managing mobile, physical assets and infrastructure, the cloud, and the underlying security, there’s plenty of opportunity for systems linkage and improved understanding of those systems.
So, welcome to Las Vegas for Pulse 2012.
Speaking of systems, be sure and check your bathroom for Bengali tigers. I think it’s just always better to be safe than sorry.
In the meantime, keep an eye here on the Turbo blog and on the Twitter hashtag #ibmpulse. There’s going to be a firehose of information coming at you these next few days!
Information on Demand 2011: Big Data, Bigger Insights
Greetings from Viva Las Vegas, Nevada.
The CNN Republican debate is long over, the media circus is over, and the information gatherers for IBM Information on Demand 2011 are arriving en masse.
My Webcasting partner-in-crime, Scott Laningham, and I arrived here yesterday mostly without incident. We scoped out the situation, and decided that the Mandalay Bay Race and Sports Book was the perfect venue to sit down, have a burger, and watch the third game of the World Series.
Since baseball and data are going to be an underlying theme in Michael Lewis and Billy Beanes’ keynote about Moneyball later this week, it only seemed appropriate.
And though my Texas Rangers ended up taking a beating, we did witness some new data added to the baseball history books: The Cardinals’ Albert Pujols tied Babe Ruth and Reggie Jackson for the most home runs struck in one game of a World Series, the magic number three (to be precise, the Babe did it twice).
And though you may never be able to fully predict the specific outcome of a single baseball game, Billy Beane and his Oakland A’s team proved that you can use past player performance statistics to help build a better team, one that could compete with the “big money” teams.
Okay, so if past prediction can help prove future performance, where does that leave we Information On Demanders for this 2011 event?
Let’s start with the business benefit, which in these tough times are necessary for even the most profitable of enterprises.
IBM studies have demonstrated that the performance gap between those leaders and the laggards and followers is widening: Organizations that apply advanced analytics have 33% more revenue growth and 12X more profit growth.
That ought to get some executive attention.
But we’re also seeing some major shifts in the external environment. Information is exploding. We’ve now got over 1 trillion devices connected to the Internet, and we’re expecting 44X digital data growth through 2020.
And yet we’re also finding that business change is outpacing our ability to keep up with it all: 60% of CEOs agree they have more data than they can use effectively, and yet 4 out of 5 business leaders see information as a vital source of competitive advantage.
So what’s the remedy? Well, those flying in to Vegas have taken the first step, admitting they have a problem (No, not “The Hangover” type problems — you’ll have to talk to Mike Tyson about those).
No, successful organizations are turning all that data into actionable insight by taking a more structured approach through business analytics and optimization (BAO).
They’re embracing it as a transformational imperative, and demonstrating that they can improve visibility throughout the enterprise, enhance their understanding of their customers, and fostering collaborative decision-making while providing those key predictive insights and optimizing real-time decision making.
So, like a good baseball player, or manager, your job over the next several days here in Vegas is to do a few key things, and do them well.
Focus, keep your eye on the ball and on the topics most important and relevant to you.
Listen, including both in the general sessions and individual tracks, but also in those all important hallway conversations — you never know what you might learn.
Participate, particularly in the social media. We IBMers and our key partners want to hear from you, and we’re only a Tweet away. Use conference hashtag #iodgc2011 to speak up, as we’re listening in return.
Commit, to the actions coming out of the event that you think will be helpful to you and your organization, and to bring those business and technology goals into becoming a reality.
And one other thing…have fun! Whatever happens in Vegas may not stay in Vegas…it may even end up on Facebook…but that shouldn’t stop you from having a good time and learning a lot this week.
As for Scott Laningham and myself, we’ll be blogging and covering key sessions, and “livestreaming” from the Expo floor. Stop by and say hello.
Smarter Software, Better Business
I went for a walkabout along the Las Vegas Strip late this morning, partially to walk off some of the jetlag and partially to do a quick photo safari.
I’ll work to share some of the pics later, but for now I wanted to share some thoughts about how software is changing the way we live on our smarter planet, which I think will provide you with a broad backdrop for the kickoff of IBM Pulse 2010 and the news that will soon begin to emanate from here in Vegas.
Be forewarned, this is a lengthier post than usual, so settle in.
On a smarter planet, people consume only what they need, when they need it — my excursion to McDonald’s this AM for breakfast aside.
By way of example, IBM is working with a leading international energy provider to launch an automated energy management system to help over 11K households to better control their energy usage.
With such a system, users will be able to establish consumption protocols to minimize electricity use in peak periods and to take full advantage of renewable energy resources when available.
On a smarter planet, people also know the best way to get from point A to point B (Note: My hopscotch trip across Europe last week was not such a journey!).
The Singapore Land Transportation Authority is building just such a capability with improvements on one of the most modern, affordable and heavily used public transport networks in the world. It includes an integrated payment option that can be used for the bus or the train, plus parking and vehicle congestion charges.
But the improvements don’t end at the bus stop — the system will also be studying commuter usage data to help design and maximize schedules and routes that will further reduce congestion.
On a smarter planet, people use smarter software to see hidden patterns.
Like at a major health insurance company, which is creating a first-of-its-kind healthcare data aggregation system that will provide information on how people receive treatment for everything from a sore foot to an ailing heart. Such a system will yield insights that empower companies to develop employee healthcare plans that provide the highest-quality care at the best value.
(I just hope they include jetlag in their menu of studied conditions!)
In each of these examples is a business, government, or industry that has used software in new ways.
Today, more than ever, organizations use software to enable every facet of their business, but with new models and ways of working also come new challenges.
As a result, a new set of needs has emerged. How to turn information into insights. To increase agility. To connect and collaborate. To enable business service and product innovation. To drive enterprise operations effectiveness and efficiency. And to manage risk, security, and compliance.
Addressing these needs requires smarter software.
Smarter software which knows and acts. Which connects and adapts. Which monitors, controls, and optimizes. And which even protects and helps mitigate risk.
We at IBM believe our software can make the world better, one client at a time. Though a lot of other companies claim to do the same thing, their software doesn’t work like IBM software.
We know what it takes to solve our clients’ biggest challenges, and we’ve spent the last 50 years delivering software that is fueled by expertise, is built for change, and is ready for work.
IBM Software is fueled by expertise, and by knowledge as to how to apply software for real results.
We know industries, the world of business, and how work actually gets done.
We also know systems, both natural and man-made, and we have the proof points to back it up:
40 innovation centers worldwide, focused on solutions for dozens of industries. 26,000 developers. 80 R&D labs. 30K partners worldwide. And the world’s largest math department.
IBM software is built for change, because it’s open, easily integrated, and flexible. It’s built with a systems point of view.
Old, new, ours, theirs…we don’t care, so long as we have the opportunity to make it all work together, and to make it work for your busines.
But we also have forward-looking labs and researchers whose sole purpose is to help our clients be prepared for the future. In the last several years, we’ve made over 100 acquisitions, established 300 SOA patents, and contributed to over 150 open source projects, more than any other company.
We’ve also invested over $1B in Linux and open source technologies, and continue to invest several hundred dollars annually.
That’s putting our money where the penguin’s mouth is.
And IBM software is ready for work.
It’s software that’s robust, industrial-strength, proven, and ready to scale. And we at IBM work to provide ongoing service that helps ensure our clients’ success, because we want to see our software solve their greatest challenges and create new value.
To do so, we have 60 laboratories around the globe that practice agile development and work hand in hand with clients, business partners, and academia, and 17K sales and 5K support staff to help along the way.
Let us help you build a smarter company and a smarter planet by helping you see your hidden patterns, recognize your problems before it’s too late, find your best way from point A to B.
Together, we can build better software to in turn build a smarter planet.
This week at IBM Pulse 2010 in Las Vegas, you’ll hear more about how.
A Well Dressed (and Jet Lagged) Man
NOTE: This post was written while still in Milan, but published after arriving yesterday early evening in Las Vegas. British Airways did not provide wifi access on the Milan-to-Vegas flight.
Greetings from the Milan Linate airport.
My short week in Europe has come to a fast end, but not before I had the opportunity to get out and see the Duomo in downtown Milan.
On my last trip here, I arrived in Milan on a Sunday evening, and had to immediately leave the IBM site to drive straight to Nice, so I didn’t have the opportunity to visit the city center.
There’s but no question the Duomo is worth visiting. The church is spectacular, having been built in the early Renaissance and simply breathtaking in its beauty.
As to the food in Milan, it’s like anywhere else I’ve ever been in Italy – scrumptious. The Italians can take a simple plate of penne pasta and turn it into magic in your mouth. Mmm, mmmm, mmmm.
Before dinner last evening, my IBM amigo Michael and I took in a little Milano fashion expedition. After joking about my poor fashion sense in previous blog posts, I decided I couldn’t leave one of the fashion capitals of the world without at least trying on some fine Italian threads.
I ended up walking out of the store with a very nice Italian sport coat and a couple of gorgeous shorts, my wallet hardly the worse for the wear. Austin will never know what hit ’em (although it’ll probably take a funeral or a wedding for me to pull them out of the closet…Austin’s pretty laid back when it comes to dress, even for bidness).
But, before I get to head back to Austin, I have one last stop to make, that mentioned pit stop in Las Vegas. For anyone glorifying the jetsetting lifestyle, know that my Saturday goes something like this:
Arrive at the Milan airport around 11:30 AM local time. Sit in the BA lounge until boarding my flight, which leaves for London around 1:40. Arrive in London a couple of hours later, sit around the airport there for a couple of hours, then board the flight to Vegas which is 10 ½ hours (in economy class, of course).
That means I’ll have arrived in Vegas sometime around 4:30 am Milano time Sunday morning.
But in all my jetlagged weariness, I’ll have some fond memories of meeting some new IBM colleagues in Stuttgart, Madrid, and Milan, and hopefully of my team and I having helped them continue to improve their Web marketing efforts.
More from Vegas and the IBM Pulse 2010 event soon.
turbotodd
Turbotodd 