After the brief introduction of Moscone, you readers want to understand what it feels like to be at the center of Java excellence right? Well, even before we get to Moscone, let me start out with parking. As we know downtown parking in any major US city might be a stiff test of both your driving skills as well as your wallet, it is surprising that the public parking garage at 5th street and Mission intersection is comparatively reasonable. It took us on an average 15 bucks for 5 hours of parking, which is not that bad. Once you have achieved this feat, you take a walk on Mission, a pleasant road splattered with coffee shops and eateries, and head towards Moscone.
Moscone North greets you on Java ONE day with hundreds of participants franticly trying to reach sessions on time. Remember undergrad days where special lectures by visiting rockstar professors used to cause so much ruckus on campus? This feeling is pretty similar. However, if you were like me and never attended lectures, then visualize the college culturals with pretty babes from the other colleges pouring in and you desperately jostling for space in the fair events. Get it? Huh! thought so.
But, alas, hubris is one of the key skills of programmers. And this is so very evident around the beanbags and rest areas of Moscone. It seems people traveled hundreds of miles (thousands too in some cases) to just be seen checking emails at Moscone? I bet these guys would all see the video streams of the keynote and general sessions and blog about them. Who cares! Well ask the business leaders who paid for their trips.
Some interesting tidbits from my notes :
- You can actually check in you coat and bag at the Moscone South check in counter. This is really handy if you are carrying a usual super heavy laptop and do not want to lug it around.
- Food around Moscone leaves much to be desired. There are only two sandwich stalls one on either side of Moscone, which provide unpalatable sandwiches and rolls. All you can trust at these stalls is the water and soda. For a person like me, who eats eight times a day, and if you are on a high protein diet, just carry your own food or look for my other posts for better alternatives.
On that note, the lunch served during the sessions to participants, is like the proverbial elixir of youth i presume. Otherwise how else will you describe a queue of seven hundred people jostling ahead of you to get there. In face Murphy's laws play good here too. Food lines are directly proportional to you hunger.
More about tidbits in future posts. Let us now dive into specific events and give you an insider view.
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