Parallels Summit: Day 1, first half

The registration lines were long; a good a sign as any and wonderful way to kick off Parallel’s third annual summit.

Although Parallels tried to organize the crowd there is one basic premise that I believe all in the Web Host industry avail themselves too, chaos is good. The original plan called for three lines, but at its height, the registration desk was flooded by no fewer than six.

Not on top of things as I had hoped, I registered late so my name tag had some assembly required. In the end I went with a more robust model, the sleek Web Host Magazine business card backed by the Parallels logo and protected by clear plastic.

Oh the joys of convention life.

Breakfast was light and there was plenty of coffee and good conversation to be had. The red-shirted Parallel employees descended upon the crowd amass spreading good cheer and automation for all.

In order to move the morning crowd to the opening ceremony the lights were dimmed then turned on in a series of rapid movements. You may call me odd but I did get some pleasure out of watching the loud crowd go deafly silent whenever the lights were at their lowest setting.

Opening Speech
The crowd traveled onward on the quest to find the next meeting room for the opening speech. Oddly enough this proved quite difficult with many wondering around in circles trying to figure out where the speech will be.

Derrick Vaughn, HostmySite, after viewing the crowd flow exclaimed, "It’s like the blind leading the blind."

Always on top of these sorts of situations Curtis R Curtis, Superb.net, asked for directions and was rewarded with a room name. He proudly proclaimed, "Follow me, I know the way." Hardly audible to the crowd he whispered, "well at least I know the room name." After the room had been found and seats began to fill, the opening speech kicked off.

What to see What to hear
What is interesting is that our industry is an industry where all of this information can be done online. We can have a video conference, use collaboration tools for walk throughs, and can participate in online demonstrations. I like to think of summits and conferences as a means for us to see the human side of the industry.

We have the email addresses and the names of people we talk to on a constant basis, but it is events like this that allow us to put a name to a face and voice.

At this summit, Parallels has decided to up the ante. It carries all the normal trappings, exhibitor’s hall, class sessions, conference topics, and the ability to network with peers, but in this one, a computer lab was outfitted to give hands on demonstrations of all of Parallel’s products complete with support personal on the floor to help guide new and old users through each technology.

As I am most interested in the business track that is what I will be discussing as far as this summit goes. Next time I type I will be coming to you from a tethered Internet connection from the Odyssey Boat Cruise event.