The EduGeek Conference North 2006

OK... I got back this morning from my outing to Rochdale for the much talked about EduGeek Conference North 2006. So what was it like? I'll start at the beginning...

On Tuesday afternoon I finished work at 4pm as usual, grabbing a couple of terminals and some CDs as I walked out the door - these would later allow me to do my talk. I sat in the car, fired up TomTom and stuck in the address for Rochdale CLC and off I went.

The journey was going great - not too much traffic, used the correct lanes on the motorway, etc. - and here I was in sunny Rochdale. The lovely woman in TomTom then politely asked me to turn left, then right and then turn around - all within the space of about 3 seconds! At this point I knew that I was going to end up VERY lost.

I soon gave up and after 2 phone calls, lots of directions and a couple of laps of the block I eventually arrived at the CLC. Upon my arrival I found out that one of the PCs for my talk (a 'RM One') contains some wonderful new Intel network card which does not have drivers for Server 2003! This meant a VERY QUICK re-think! VMWare to the rescue again!

So I left Server 2003 installing as Tony turned up (8 hours after he was expected!). We then made our merry way to the Moorcock Inn. Upon our arrival, Tony announced that he had not booked a room! Russ and I explained that when we both told him to 'book the room,' what we actually meant was 'pick up the phone, ring the hotel and book your room NOW!'
Anyway, I very kindly allowed him to use the spare bed in my twin room... how generous am I?

So, Tuesday evening we had a lovely meal at the Moorcock and a few beers before Beeswax, Nathan and Mark left us.

Wednesday morning we were up nice and early and downstairs for breakfast at 7am. A very nice breakfast in fact - full english! Then off to the CLC for just after 8am to continue with the set up and welcome people. Of course a lot of people were late due to problems finding the place! Other than that all the talks went well (mine ran smoothly!) and reviews, etc. can be found at www.edugeek.net and www.edugeekconference.net. The food was good and people were able to do lots of networking - plus everybody went away with a prize (even if it was just a Netgear wifi sniffer). The biggest problem of the day was when I went to get a cup of water and crashed the water cooler! A swift powercycle seemed to fix it though ;-)

Following the conference, we all (well some of us) piled down to a local curry house and had a great meal. A great time was had by all and Oliis very kindly took care of the bill. Russ and I then went back to the Moorcock and had many more beverages.

A good night's sleep followed and another great breakfast before Russ and I popped back to the CLC to help Beeswax with the tidying up.

All in all I had a very good time and had a good chat with a few people and learnt a bit too. Now I just need to fill in the expense form for the hotel.