Keynotes at SD West 08

Conferences like SD West provide a venue for developers to keep up with a rapidly changing industry, and learn practical techniques to become more productive. However, the industry is sometimes a bit short-sighted, and overly focused on the latest technologies and buzzwords. By contrast, keynotes typically feature legendary speakers who are unencumbered by the pressure of the current fads, and as a result take a broader perspective to reflect on the history of the industry.

SD West next week

SD West 2008 is taking place next week in Santa Clara; this year I got a VIP pass, which means that the only limit on what sessions I can attend will be my stamina, and the unfortunate fact that the ubiquity machine has not been invented yet. I have signed up for two days of IDesign-Fest to begin with, with Michèle Bustamante on Monday, and Juval Löwy on Tuesday, for, you guessed it, some WCF and services, but I haven’t made up my mind yet between the multitude of classes during the last 3 days… I am looking forward to it, in spite of the long drive, and I would not have said it better myself: I am ready to be “refreshed and pumped up”!

Geeks have feelings, too

In the recent barrage of Valentine’s Day annoying spam great promotional offers, this one really caught my eye. Valentine has turned into this giant marketing machine, and this email is as exploitative as it gets; and yet, I found it stangely touching.

SharePoint for Developers education day

The next Bay.Net education day is now officially announced! It will take place on February 16th, 2008, from 9am to 4pm, and will be hosted in the OakRoom at HP in Cupertino; for a tiny registration of $35, Lynn Langit, Microsoft Evangelist, will be telling you everything you need to know about SharePoint, and probably even a bit more. Judging by what I know from Lynn, it should be a top-notch, fun, and high-energy session. Hope to see you there! Did I mention that I was involved with the organization? :)

Management, the Gordon Ramsay way

The first American season of “Kitchen Nightmares” aired its final episode on Fox a few weeks back. The show follows a simple recipe: in each episode, Chef Gordon Ramsay is called in by the owner of a fledging restaurant, and has one week to put it back on track. The formula makes for great TV: take a group of people nearing bankruptcy, throw in a guy with a strong personality who doesn’t mince his words, and let him explain to them what they are doing wrong. The result is a high-intensity series, filled with emotion and drama – and I got immediately hooked up.

I spent quite some time catching up with the entire season, and after a little, I realized that my interest had shifted. I still enjoyed the high-octane exchanges, but I grew fascinated by the predictability of each episode. The restaurants Ramsay helps out come in all tastes and flavors: an Irish pub owned by a retired cop in upstate New York, an Indian restaurant in Manhattan, a pizzeria in Hollywood, an upscale Napa valley restaurant run by a French chef… And yet, in spite of all their obvious differences, each episode unfolds in a familiar sequence, making “Kitchen Nightmares” an amazing case study in business management. Observing one person in the process of rescuing a business small enough that you can understand how things fit together is already a great learning opportunity; but seeing the same person doing it over and over again is like a perfect lab in management, an experiment allowing comparisons for similarities and differences; so I began to look at the show from that perspective, looking for patterns and wondering if there were lessons to be learnt, applicable beyond the restaurant business.