Mix09, with Mac in tow

This will be my third Mix now, and what a strange road it has been for me. The first one I went to on my own dime, sort of, in that the conference was free but travel was my thing. That was a perk of just having a book published. Then the conference got super popular. I didn't go in '07, but I did go last year, on my former employer's bill. It was pretty spectacular, and I hoped that I would have the chance to go again this year.

So I made it a negotiating point when I accepted my current gig. Especially given my move away from day-to-day coding and more into architecture, this particular conference seems like a great fit. I love that it's not a hundred code demos, too. Not that those aren't fascinating, but I like to be a part of a bigger picture. The group of people that this thing brings together really helps put together that big picture.

It also makes me feel like I lost something along the way. When my book came out, I suspected I would keep writing, maybe do some speaking, maybe even work for Microsoft (first attempt: FAIL). But then I had the whole divorce thing and more lifedrama than I would've liked, and I was constantly distracted. So this show is a bit of a turning point. I'm getting married in less than three weeks, I feel as confident as ever in my abilities, and I'm thinking about writing another book. Or contribute to one (if anyone is looking for someone to do a few chapters). Sometimes life requires a little bit of a reboot.

Tomorrow night I'll roll into the Venetian, my shiny new 17" MacBook Pro in hand, and partake in the reasonably dense but endlessly interesting Mix conference. And maybe my tenth Blue Man Group show.