McGarelGramming

Today I replaced Lotus fun with Disney fun and spent the day at the Magic Kingdom with the family.  As I try to catch up on emails and blog postings tonight, I realized I should send out some well-deserved thanks:

• To all the bloggers who gave Lotusphere advice beforehand -- thanks in particular for the suggestion to talk to strangers at the lunch and breakfast tables. I did it this year and acquired some insights into other environments, received some helpful advice, gained some companions at subsequent sessions and possibly started some new friendships.

• To the many bloggers I met and hung out with -- thank you for your warm reception at various formal and informal get-togethers.

• To Mitch Cohen, Warren Elsmore and Conxys -- thanks for all your hard work and support for Blogger Open. It was great fun and I hope it becomes a Lotusphere tradition.

• To anyone at IBM Lotus connected with bringing in Benjamin Zander as the closing speaker -- THANK YOU!  He made me laugh a lot, he made me cry a little bit, he made me think in brand new ways.
  

Finally, birthday greetings go out to Lotus Notes (20) and Eric (none of our business). Here's a toast to bright futures ahead for you both!

Microsoft, realizing the obvious superiority of Lotus products, keeps silent this year. Instead, they aim all the fans from the unused servers in their Live Services data centers toward Orlando, producing unseasonably low temperatures in the area.

It still won't spoil the fun. See you there!