SharePoint Conference in Berlin 2007

10.02.2007 - Work

My first business trip for Crealogix to the SharePoint Conference in Berlin. To see a bit more of Berlin, I decided to fly up the weekend before the conference. Somehow it happened that I met up with a friend of my Berlin ex-girlfriend's sister for a beer, we got along well and he introduced me to Berlin nightlife afterwards. Was extremely cool, but got a little late....

Saturday 10. February

Windy, temperature felt -6 degrees.

Arrival at Alexanderplatz
TV Tower
My room with mirror
Beautiful image with reflection
My view from the 18th floor
In front of the window
Direct view of Alexanderplatz
My room at the Park Inn
Wet room
Smoke and clouds
kitsch shop
Glitter, glitter
For the second time bought glasses in Berlin.
A bit blurry...
Lasagna was good
Hackeschen Höfe
'Kellerassel' with live pianist
Candlelight
Funny benches
Large offer
Another farm
Empty again
Oranienburger Strasse: From schickimicki...
.. until alternative

Sunday 11. February

Drizzle led to black ice.

Cool live sound again
Quite late now
Cold Sunday morning, it was snowing. Not very inviting
Still out on Prenzelberg to Anna Blume because of hunger
Anna Blume is brilliant for brunch. We stayed for almost two hours.
Hundreds of birds play with the thermals from the Galeria Kaufhof department stores'.
Swush
I registered the night before to avoid the 2300 expected participants.

Monday 12. February

First day of the conference, rainy.

Digital information board at the entrance to the Estrel
The Microsoft flags are waving in the rain
SharePoint Conference Day 1 at the Hotel Estrel
Tadaaaaa! Welcome Participant No. 2156. You are not alone
And that's only one half of the room. Behind me there are even more seats!
The hall fills up anyway
Welcome by the SharePoint EMEA Guys
There are already some illustrious SharePoint users: VW, Starbucks, AXA, MTV
Many hungry people
Special images
Swiss Event in Ratskeller of Koepenick
Yves Grosjean (Microsoft) and Co.
170 Swiss SharePointlers

Tuesday 13. February

The weather is not really improving.

The hall was full
Well eaten. Saying of the evening by Matthias Egli (Microsoft): "Moos is cool". By moos he probably meant MOSS ;-)
Many presentations
Many statistics
Much SmartArt
More things to know
Well there were other things for in between: XBOXing
Some had the fast bolides not so under control and there was considerable property damage
A look into the future...
Another networking event, this time with all 2300 participants
Almost like at the Berlinale
Impressive Effects
Masses!
Even more special effects
People as far as the eye can see
And that was just the one room!
The moto: Shared Emotions!
The second, smaller room. Also full.
Los Swissos
Food good, everything good.
Really been delicious

Wednesday 14. February

Valentine's Day, who cares about the weather?!

Two more words about computer scientists and dancing: No Comment...
The rush on the dance floor was then accordingly kept within limits ;-)
On the way back from the Shared Emotions I went to the "Kellerassel" on Oranierburgerstrasse.
I can really recommend it. Even if you are not allowed to take photos inside... not even the second time...
I really need to sleep. It's half past 2 again, and I still have the last, exhausting day of the conference ahead of me.
Last day, last time direction Hönow via Frankfurter Allee to Sonnenallee and the Estrel on the way
Good old Alex. Has proven to be the ideal place to be quartered. In terms of output.
And off we go. On to the Estrel. On to SharePoint
Wow. And the SharePoint Conference 2007 is already over. It was nice. I saw a lot of new things. Met a lot of people. I'll be back.
I have seen all the sessions that I have planned. Busy, busy.
I must have been really lucky with my choice of sessions: in contrast to other participants, with one exception, I got good, informative sessions across the board.
Networking at its best: I generally only exchanged cards with CEOs, COOs or members of the management ;-)
I have also written a lot. But the many impressions cannot be put into words.
Let the event end in a cosy atmosphere in Schöneberg.
Among other things, in the cosy coffee shop "Bilderbuch". Looks like a large living room, feels like one too.
Merci Julia, merci Tobi, merci Barbara, merci Nele for the good tips on going out and for the competent company on the super pub tours ;-) Berlin is and remains brilliant!
PS: Had another revelation on the way home.... but "what am I supposed to do with this information now?!" ;-) And bye!