Vlad Mazek

Wow, what an exciting few days it has been!!! I’m back from New Orleans and the SBS Migration ITPRO Conference where I got to hang out with a few of my great friends, see what an impact my work really has on my partner’s customers day-to-day (got a little “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy), learn a ton of ways I can do better, get a pimp hat, and a little something special… take the “DrunkASS wife” award from Steve Luby.

We spent the first day walking around NOLA, checking out the sights and sounds of the city. Never been there so going around the French Quarter was a new experience for me. I was up very late on Thursday night coding Shockey Monkey and Erick asked what it was like. You can imaigne there were some colorful descriptions there but among the clean ones are “Big Easy – Drink away your sense of smell for a really good time” and “It’s like Vegas if Ceasars Palace exploded onto the strip and hookers solicited directly without the flyer-snapping-Mexicans”; I remember college well, you can’t get the aroma of open-air piss-shit-vomit smell past me! Yet, (despite, or in spite of all that) NOLA was a blast, especially at night!

Erick “I take planes down” Simpson made it in on Friday night and we all went out. He bought me a pimp hat – purple tiger print with a white stripe. I can now say that pimpin’ aint easy because I wore that hat through two of my presentations and man is it hot. Hot as in my head is about to melt hot! But I wore it, perhaps shamelessly.

This is the first time my wife agreed to go to an IT conference with me. I can’t blame her, women are rarely seen at these conferences. It’s really difficult to control the hormones when you’re around so many sexy IT guys. Plus she loves her job, but since she’s been in hazing training she jumped at the opportunity to show up. And she had a hard time. Not only did she see what it’s like when I do presentations “Diceman SMTP” but she had a distinct pleasure of babysitting my mom for a day. So on Sunday, when we were about to go on a Mississippi paddle-boat cruise I had to take her and get her “in the New Orleans state of mind” with a few Hurricanes. Erick, again, hooked us up. I owe him big time! By the time we made it to the boat Katie was in a very good place. A few Hurricanes and Australians later she was the most trashed person on the boat. It was spectacular. And then it happened, something I never thought I’d live long enough to see.

I took the drunkASS wife title away from Steve Luby. Chris and I carried barefoot Amy from Cheers to the park in Boston, some 4 city blocks. Katie was carried from the NOLA Aquarium all the way to the corner of Bourbon & Canal (more than 8 blocks) by Chris and Susan Bradley.

So, Mr. Luby, I expect the DrunkASS wife trophy mailed over to me.

As for Erick, as usual, he was the consumate professional and didn’t have a lick of alcohol. Pictured here, with his drinks of the evening.

Katie’s impressions? I hope she blogs them over at www.vladandkatie.com but the one thing I kept on hearing was how impressed she was with the Australians. “They are the nicest people on earth!” and yes, its amazing.

This is the first time I got to meet Dean and Wayne’s families and they were remarkably nice and funny as well. Katie kept on repeating it. I agree and I can’t explain it. Maybe we’re just surrounded by assholes all the time or maybe Australians are nice because when they come to USA they don’t have to stand on their heads.. I don’t know.

That would be Dean’s wife wearing a Shockey Monkey shirt, Wayne wearing a Kangaroo shirt, and Dean with the official Australia Tourism Board telling Katie where Australia is. Katie was really impressed by them. I was wearing my UF Gators shirt when she first met Dean in the hotel doorway and he said “Ay, I’m from Australia. Ay, crockey, let me stick me thumb up its arse” – Tell me that wouldn’t get you off on the right foot with our friends from down under.

And business as usual – Here is the Three Pimps picture (Karl was MIA at the moment) with Nancy “Yes, I can sell that” Williams.

While I will post the professional review of this conference on Vladville I thought it was important to note just how much fun we’ve had and that NOLA is indeed back. We’ll be back as well, when Jeff swings the next conference. As for the overall satisfaction: