6 Months? Has it Been that Long?

Not since I blogged, but since we left the US.

August 12^th we picked up the family and the labrador and moved to Israel. And it has been the best thing we have done in years.

Many of my friends at the IBM event formerly known as Lotusphere in Orlando remarked how much happier I seemed, that I must be enjoying myself. The truth, of course, is not as rosy as Facebook posts, but there is much truth to it nonetheless.

Life is different. You get used to creature comforts in the US that just do not exist in Israel. No Amazon Prime, Target, Walmart or similar customer service. And yes I did shop a bit to bring things back for everyone, but in general, I don’t expect to do it this way. Like adoption of a new product, you can’t just go cold turkey.

We gained nearly unlimited places to eat at, finally, and a bakery on every corner that makes our little city just smell awesome, even on rainy days. Fresh Danish or bread can’t be beat.

Admittedly my Hebrew is still not where I would like it to be, it is coming back to me. The kids are getting more integrated and surviving their trial by fire of classes in Hebrew. The dog, well, she just doesn't speak whatever language the local dogs speak. But there are cats and she is happy chasing them.

The pinball machine survived and is getting operated on to be converted to 240 from 110.

Our cost of living is about half of what it was in Boca. While my salary fluctuates based on the projects I work on, and please feel free to let me know if you need any help, we have been getting out to see things more over here. There is no shortage of sights, museums, caves, parks to see and experience. There are also distilleries, breweries and wineries waiting for us.

Our friends in Rehovot have been great and welcoming and we look forward to do the same for the next people to arrive in our neck of the woods.

Yes, we did go beet picking, on archaeological digs, spelunking through a stalactite cave, hang out by the ocean in Jaffa, go up to the North and look out on the Mediterranean and of course to Jerusalem and all that it offers.

More places to go and see and learn about, the list is very long. But there is also business. I have been going to various meetups, events, seminars from Google, IBM, RackSpace, SalesForce and others related to startups, founders, marketing and the travel industry. While I would like to do more work in Israel, IBM Verse will not do BiDi (BI-Directional languages) until 3 months after GA, this part of being here is the slowest. It takes time to get to know, and be known, by the people you are seeking to work with or consult.

And today I am at the FIRST Robotics competition in Ra'anana, will post more on that in a day or two. Third time as a Robot Inspector, first time doing it in Israel. Can't wait to see what the kids come up with for this year's event. (Panorama shot, click on the picture to see it in full)

After the show in Orlando I went to visit my family in Boca and saw some friends. Those I missed, sorry I could not be everywhere, but for those I did see, I’m not the Aliyah cheerleader. The same percentage of people that love Manhattan, or prefer the frozen tundra of upstate New York, are the same people that just feel more comfortable when in Israel. It is cult like, for sure, but then so is any religion, be it spiritual or based around a business solution.

If you have a chance to come over and visit Israel let me know. It is not all sand and desert. It is oranges and rosemary, industry and business, the cross roads between the new and the old world.

And we have Kosher Tim Tams. 

The ConnectED 2015 Edition is Closed For Renovations Until Further Notice

This is the first Lotusphere (that is what a very yellow clad IBMer proclaimed) in years I did not do any blogging. Not a daily, no recaps, no massive posting. Just one posting, my SpeedGeeking session slide deck.

Why the silence? I chose to follow IBMs lead.

No fanfare, no big PR team push, no daily main tent sessions, no branding on stage. IBM hit the target, they wanted it to feel like a LUG and it did. Friends gathered, speakers presented, SpeedGeeking rocked, as usual, and somewhere in between it all, I, for one, found myself happy throughout the few days.

Happy. Been a few years since I was this happy. 

Not sales happy, but maybe it was the premise that this may be was the final swan song for a brand previously known as Lotus. We wanted to see friends, IBMers and our Kimono’s and Dolphin bar waitresses one last time. Carpe Diem did not exactly happen but there were many nights in a mostly quiet Dolphin Rotunda just talking about life and things that were beyond the Yellow universe. No late night meetings at 2am with IBM execs, well, the usual ones, and we even got kicked out of Kimono’s early , for us, on the last night. Yes it was different.

Kind of like the ending of St. Elmo’s Fire.

Did IBM hit the technical mark for sessions? Debatable, but I am not the target audience and neither are most of the bloggers and Champions. 

The newbies and first years said  ”it was mind blowing”, “amazing”, “too much to take in at once”. Really, they loved it. And, believe it or not, there were quite a few newbies. Some even thanked me for my blog post from before the event. I got to meet some more readers and Twitter followers too.

Sadly, they also realized what they had been missing out on all these years and most likely will not get to be a part of in the future. LUG events are great and will provide that needed adrenalin that keeps developers and administrators crushing their work and deadlines. But they can’t replace having 80 or so IBM Champions, dozens of bloggers and people that have shaped this universe, in one way or another all in one place.

I would ask IBM to reconsider dropping Lotusphere, but maybe we overstayed our welcome. It was a great run, but the new kids in town deserve to have their fun too. Maybe Watson should get its own conference, or maybe IBM Connections should since both of these are the next generation of front facing solutions that people can touch see and feel in some way that they will never do for Rational, Tivoli or Websphere.

The meetings I had with IBMers were interesting and led to some more discussions that will pan out further this year. I did not get to many sessions, but did get to some friends sessions to wish them well and rock their sessions. I could not be there for all of them, but I know from my past sessions, it provides that extra push when your friends are with you. 

Hope you all aced your sessions! Based on the Twitter feeds it sounded that way.

Sure things were odd this year compared to previous years, change is hard for some of us dinosaurs. We can’t go back. Neither can IBM. It must go forward and try to bring everyone along with them.

Did a case study, did a video, roamed around the show case floor, possibly walked more than previous years. I got to meet some people, way too many to list, that only existed as Ids on my computer with avatars that did not always show their faces. Evidently I am now part of the Italian team, thanks Matteo and Andrea but we missed Giuseppe and I am always happy to come to Italy if you need me.

Thanked other Champions that really helped me in times of need and found some friends that while outside of the usual suspects, fit right in with everyone. It is great when your worlds collide and nothing explodes beyond your fresh beer being opened.

Seeing and hearing from some of you that were unofficially hanging out with us because you also just wanted one last hurrah made it all the more special. Since I am now overseas, for me especially, I am less likely to come over as often for different events.

This was not the end, it is just a new beginning.

One which may not include many of us, but we will always have these moments and we are all just a Skype chat away from each other. 

May you all live long and prosper, seems an appropriate way to end this post.