On Monday March 30, I left home at 3:00 a.m. bound for the Denver International Airport. It was snowing hard, and the gusty wind made visibility difficult. Load testing waits for no man. My passion for LoadStorm forced me out into the blizzard.
Normally, I can go from my house in Keystone to DIA in about 85 minutes with no traffic problems and staying relatively close to the speed limit. This took a bit longer, and although it wasn’t the easiest start to a trip, the conferences in the Bay Area were definitely well worth it.
Software Testing & Performance and Web 2.0 Expo both started on 3/31. STPCon ended on Thursday, but W2E continued on Friday. They were both excellent places to talk to people about load testing tools using cloud computing infrastructure. Most people wanted my card, and almost everyone wanted a poncho…except that guy from London that said he didn’t have room in his suitcase for schwag.
Ponchos were Roger’s idea. They convey “storm”. They hopefully help people remember us. Bright yellow emergency storm protectors stuffed into a very small pouch with a 4-color card about LoadStorm. We also gave away free Tornado accounts with the ponchos to see how many people would sign-up with the promo code.
In addition to the ponchos, I got Roger and me really high-tech, waterproof, breathable, and vented rain gear with our logo and “LoadStorm.com” embroidered in large blue letters across the back. I wanted to put something about “load testing tools” on the front, but it seemed a bit much.
Ancillary note: gotta love those direct flights for $176.
Roger, our CTO, met me in SFO at about 7:45 am. It felt great to be at our destination so early in the morning. This gave us plenty of time to explore the city, get checked into the hotel, have a little fun, and meet with a client in the afternoon. Even better – our luggage arrived with us.
Loaded down with 250 yellow promotional ponchos (checked in at 54 lbs), we set off in the rental car to find Fisherman’s Wharf and Blazing Saddles. Our objective was to rent bikes and ride along the wharf, over the Golden Gate bridge, and into Sausalito. As it turned out, we didn’t make the right turn at the Marina, and we ended up climbing the big hill through the Presidio and over to the Golden Gate Park. It’s farther than it looks on the tourist map. After riding through the park, around a bunch of streets in the Richmond District, through Lincoln Park Golf Course, Sea Cliff, and into another part of the Presidio, we eventually found the bridge.
Sausalito is a fun little town. We had some good chowder, pie, and expresso before riding the ferry back to Pier 39.
Our client wanted to meet at Straits restaurant in a mall on 5th Street and Market. It was the typical high-end big city place with good location, fancy decor, tall food, and small portions. Pay alot, get a little, stacked neatly, presented beautifully.
With two conferences scheduled for the same week, Roger and I needed to split up. He was registered for the STPCon, and I was a Web 2.0 groupee. That meant he had to get up earlier and drive to San Mateo. Most people told us it could take an hour with heavy traffic, but by leaving at 6:30 a.m., he made it in 20 minutes. I just walked to the Moscone Center from our hotel. Nice morning walk – weather was perfect. It took me a couple of “pings” to get used to the panhandlers. I bought a newspaper published by the Homeless Coalition (hope the money really got to the people).
Since the W2E was my first day, I attended a morning and an afternoon workshop. Both sessions were about social media, SEO, marketing, etc. The really cool part of the 2nd session (Social Media Strategy Map) was that our breakout group chose LoadStorm for the exercise. We created a strategy around creating a new contest for the poorest performing websites. Of course, LoadStorm will be the sponsor (soft sell only). Please be looking for details in by the end of April.