Solo Technology

I spent the morning at the Google @ Work event in downtown Denver today. It was… interesting but not at all what I was really expecting. In a way, it was a bit of a time-warp experience.

Remember back in the 90’s and earlier this decade (aka “bubble 1″)? You’d go to a half-day seminar at a big hotel. Start with a nice hot breakfast (eggs!), some pastries and good coffee (Starbucks, natch). Wander into a huge room with rows of tables. Grab a spot and sit for the next couple hours (quietly regretting all that coffee you just drank…).

While sitting, we had a big white screen up front hosting the obligatory Power Point presentation presented by the obligatory smooth host.

Don’t get me wrong, the presentation was informative enough, but it just felt … retro …. somehow. Not sure how to explain it.

Our host was impressive. If he got a question he didn’t know, or didn’t have a good answer for, he’d duck and weave and change the subject smoothly and quickly. A good skill to have when speaking in front of a bunch of tech folks, eh?

The presentation this morning was all about Google Enterprise, which is comprised of:

• Search: Google Desktop and Google search appliances
• Share: aka Google Apps
• Visualize: the Geospatial products like Google Earth, Maps and SketchUp Pro

I’d say we spent 75% of the time on “share”, 20% on “search” and the reminder on “visualize.” Once that speechifying was done, we headed back out to the lobby area (coffee was gone! drat) and visited with the Google guys and some 3rd party vendors.

That visiting time at the end was probably the most useful. I got the chance to corner some of the Apps folks and ask questions related to my company’s upcoming move to Google Apps for email and calendar.

1. Does Google have any training materials I can leverage to help folks make the transition from Outlook to the Gmail and Gcal web interfaces?
   • The response was funny — the guy I was speaking with said, “Yeah, we have some great videos, but they’re really hard to find…”
     His search led to a video training page that was down then (and is still down now). I hope it comes back soon.
2. When I’m defining who can see a shared calendar (for instance, Company Events), do I really have to specify all the individual email addresses or can I use a distribution email address?
   • Stumped him on that one, but he promises an email soon — and I got his card, so if need be I’ll pester a bit if I don’t get a chance to just try it myself.

So, because of that final 15 minutes, I’m glad I went. The stuff before was interesting, but I probably would’ve been content to just watch a video of it from the comfort of my own office.

Side Note: I had planned on using the Denver Light Rail to get downtown today. Unfortunately, it wasn’t until I was parked and trying to buy my ticket from the kiosk that I realized tickets are cash only. No card readers. I rarely carry cash and today was no exception.

On a whim, I decided to drive instead of leaving to find an ATM and returning. Last time I made this drive at rush hour it took over an hour to get downtown. Since then, some major road work has completed resulting in many redone ramps and more lanes, and that sure has paid off! Took me 20 minutes to get downtown. Granted, my parking ramp spot alone cost more than the train would’ve (let’s ignore the $3.29/gal gas prices too) but I was impressed that all that road work (years and years worth) really did made things better.

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