Who is going to WES 2009?
 

Who is going to WES this year?

(I will be in attendance.... )

I'll be there

Right on! Tony are you going to carry a digital camera with VGA recording abilities to show us some of the floor highlights?

* Will there be any specific news on MIDP3 being implemented into the BB OS?!!

Yep. I'm going to have one of those big cameras with a backpack for a case. LOL

Aye, I'll be there.

me too... Hopefully John Mayer is busy this year and they have to get someone a little more hip. :p Or at least maybe he'll bring Jennifer with him this time...

My wish list: (in no particular order)
Blue Man Group
Metallica
The Offspring
REM
Kiss

I"ll be @ WES and.......Thank You!
I thought I was the only one who found it hard to appreciate the simple stylings
of John, The Yawn, Mayer last year.

Agree with Darthbberry - BMG or Kiss would be GREAT!
Don't laugh - but I would also like to see the train wreck, Britney Spears,
in person. Don't know why.....but I like her singing when she gets her raunchy voice on.
For curiosity sake - I'd like to see Ozzy Osborne to witness first hand
how the heck that voice comes out of such a drug atrophied body!

I'll tell you what... I thought that Belushi did a damn good job the two years prior! I think I've been going for about 5 years now... and he was always a good show. The house of blues food was a little so-s0... but the entertainment was always good!

does anyone know it the Marriott is booked yet? im still waiting for my approval to attend :(

Just checked online - still able to get the 217 wes rate.

I recommend you make your reservation for the hotel just in case. You can always cancel 24 hours in advance with no penalty.
Heck, I made my reservation for WES 2009 at the Marriott in June 2008.

I have been to every WES conference from 2002 thru 2007. I will be making my return this year. Belushi was good. The Verizon party was off the chart in 2007. hopefully, they will have another good one. The real party is the Marriot lounge bar though. I can't wait. Come on WES!!!

The Verizon Party 2007 was AMAZING. I know the guy who won the $1000.

I'll be there, too.

Damn I wish I could go... Went last year, and as much as there are now alot of discounts n stuff for me as an alumni, doesn't really compare to how much we're cutting back now at our company. Alot of our staff can't even attend their own conferences this year. Hopefully next year or sometime down the line. Hope you all have fun, and report back anything exciting =D , living vicariously through you fellow BlackBerry geeks

I wanna go, but can't. I heard there is a lot of good stuff being announced. Like...:)

Nope. Not this year for me because of budget cuts. I have been going since 2006.

:(

Can anyone go or do you have to have an invitation?

...not to mention EVERYTHING else they had to offer. That was insane! But the best part, aside from that big, goofy ass smile of yours that just brightens up even the saddest of puppies, was the House of Reps lady that put on the Humpty Dumpty act. PRICELESS!

@Andyn, go to www.attendwes.com and have a look. It's open to anyone who wants to pay.

I'll be there, once again.

I sooooooo want to go, we were given an opportunity to speak at WES and turned it down.. Bad company. BADDD Company.. lol..

Well, I know a guy who was able to get a free Curve.

Still waiting for confirmation from my company. This will be my first WES, heart beating faster just thinking about it ;)

I know a guy who blagged a golf bag, putter and phone, coz he said he was from the UK and the RIM guys just melted. Must have been his charming accent.

And I know the guy who got part of the $1000 spent on him for an express pass at Universal, sweet 8-).

Goofy! Thanks, man!

Yeah, I think the $1k winner got one too. LOL

Loot whore. But it must've been the accent.

Oh and the Express Pass was tops. Got us up in front of everybody else. BTW, I still have the Expedition Everest picture of us proudly displayed.

Yeah man that pass was the best, thanks again! Dude I see your ugly mug at least twice when I go upstairs in my house. It's quite scary having DarthBB on your wall kids, don't try this at home.

Scary.

I will be in attendance

Could someone kindly post or pm me the link for the AT&T party when it becomes available.

It would be greatly appreciated!

I wish I could go, but I'll just have to live vicariously through all of you attending.

TetherBerry is looking to go. Hopefully we will know in a week or so.

Any word yet from the Original BBF Crew yet? Besides me and jibi... (You know who you are...)

Well although I was told they want to send me (as opposed to last year when I was told not to even ask!), the lack of response to my emails tells me that the budget still ain't there. Right now I wouldn't go booking a place at the bar for me my friends :cry:

So far, it look like the only Original Wankers that are going are me and AlanM. I haven't heard from anybody else yet. Not even sure about the Wicksoft boys. They're trying though. :cry:

Me (y)

Just heard the no budget for this. So I'm bummed as I wanted to get the BES 5.0 sessions.

Enjoy for anyone able to attend.

OMG... Spinal Tap - UNWIGGED & UNPLUGGED is playing at the Hard Rock Cafe on Wednesday 5/6. I might have to skip out on the carrier parties to go to this event. These guys aint getting any younger.
UNWIGGED & UNPLUGGED

dont' reckon I'll be making it this year. Been out of the BB circle for a little while - hence my lack of posting on here - still I've been up a snowy mountain on skis for the best part of the last 3 months so life ain't so bad...

OMG OMG OMG as the kids say. That seals it, fate decrees that I will never get budget now :-(

Still aint heard yet? I remember in 2007 they waited until about a month before to send you.

Yeah and that was the year RIM paid most of my bills. ah good times 8-)

Yihaa, I'll be there again this year after skipping 2007 and 2008. Bigger, better,...?

Peter

I'm there too.. first experience ;-)

Jay

For all you first timers, don't haul your laptop around with you, carry your sunglasses everywhere you go, and keep your BlackBerry fully charged.

Don't need no stinkin' laptop.....

Same here BB, left the WY Police when they were being forced to go down the WinMo route (have since backtracked and stayed with Berrys as they saw the light), if anyone gets the chance to go to WES I would recommend it as it a blast (big up to the 2007 Crew) as it is well worth the investment!

'sup Si, long time no post 8-). Just got to say mate, lovin the sig, nice!

I'm going on WES too. This is my first visit on such this conference. Maybe I took my wife with me. I live she in hotel and let spend a time how she would like.

I will go when its held in new york

What to expect at WES
 

From some of the post here it sounds like there's more to the event than what goes on during the day.

I'm heading out there from the UK for my first WES and wondered if anyone can give me some tips about what goes on 'after hours' and how to get the most from it.

What's all the talk about Blue Man Group, Kiss etc?

Thanks

Mate you will have a ball, trust me! It's the same as similar confs in that all day you sit around and get told how to do stuff you already know in a better way or how to do some stuff you didn't know about. Then at night you go out and go a bit mad but the diff with this place is that you have the theme parks 15 mins away, very cool 8-). There is generally at least one organised event by a vendor etc but even when there isn't, there is always something going on to keep you busy! doesn't look like I will be going but I am sure one of these lucky buggers will hook up with you.

Also speak to your major network and see what they have got going on (unless you are with Voda, they are a bit clueless about WES). So jealous mate.

There was talk about some of us getting together to go see Blue Man Group on the Sunday before WES or the Friday afterwards. Not happening now.

There was a rumor that KISS was to be the WES Party entertainment. Nothing else confirmed though.

There are 3 major theme parks within minutes of the conference.
Walt Disney World
Universal Studios
SeaWorld

Take your pick and have some fun!

I am officially NOT going....

We had one of our very best server admins put his 2 weeks in on Monday and that means we have to pick up the slack. Which means I will be doing Citrix training instead. I suppose this is a good thing since it means more opportunities, but I was looking forward to seeing you guys again.

But hey, at least I will be in Orlando tomorrow for my honeymoon 8-).

I'll be there with 2 people from my company. Should be a blast as always. (y)

Also, I feel like I should be fighting with stuwhite. Or at least our avatars should be.

haha I saw your avatar and smiled but tbh it wouldn't be a fight. The puny son of Jor-el is nothing against the might of General Zod, sorry dude 8-).

I wont' be going this year. I *may* have been able to swing it if the Canadian dollar was still at par, but sine it's 20% lower now, and the economy has tanked, it's a no go.

Which is really too bad, looking at 5.0 would have been nice.

Oh well, will aim for 2010

Sorry, but I am going to have to disagree there.

http://www.snowbombing.com/forum/att...1&d=1158229712

Plus, come on, Zod is the bad guy. The bad guy never beats Superman. :razz:

Oh please. Your puny attempts at Google image searching just remind me how easy it will be for Zod to rule this infantile race.

But yeah, it's a shame Zod has to lose, far stronger character than Superman. But we digress......

Well, John Mayer's summer tour was sponsored by RIM last summer and he was the entertainment at WES. This summer they are sponsoring U2...

I like starting rumors.

This is a great rumor. I'll second it.

U2 to be the RIM Party entertainment.

I'll be there again. Looking forward to it.

To all of you expecting the lavish parties like prior years, you may be in for a surprise this year...hope I'm wrong, but we'll see. *fingers crossed*

Maybe this year we won't have to pretend to be interested.

Malcolm Gladwell will be there to tell you how to use the Blackberry as a hair iron.

The Cirque group that performed the night of the RIM party was great. Actually decided that night I was taking my wife to the Cirque show for her birthday when we were in Orlando in December.

My allergy induced head cold was in full force that night and I really couldn't hear John Mayer anyway.

I'll be there.
 

5th year in a row for me, hopefully there will be a release date for 5.0 given.

And hopefully a roadmap of where they will be going with the MVS product. We just put it in and are currently testing it.


Carl

Who said Mondays suck?

Came in to a voicemail from the CIO saying it's vital that I attend so .. my airfare is booked and will be getting the other things finalized today :)

Doing my happy dance!

Lucky bugger! I am assuming now that the earlier talk here was smoke being blown, so I guess I will have to attend virtually (i.e. Darth IMing me each day with what I missed) 8-)

I was planning to go but I just got notified "due to budget constraints" I'm not going.:cry:

Maybe next year...

Well if I had your new PIN.......

If I could get the friggin thing to activate mate :x .......

Call your BES Admin... oh wait....

And the first person who posts a link to the "how to troubleshoot activation" doc (I am looking at you knotty) is getting a personal visit. To make it worse my friggin backup server for Europe just went bye byes and it's past food time :x

First WES Attendee
 

Good evening all, This will be my first WES trip and I really dont know what to expect. My role is more support than administrative, can anyone give me any insight as to what I should go to. I am signed up to take the Blackberry Certification test (the suppot one I think). Any insight to all of this would be much appreciated. Hope this turns out to be fun, of course we will be in Florida with beer, cant get much better than that I guess.

Hi and welcome to the Forums.

You can expect to see 3000+ BlackBerry friends from all over the world walking around a convention floor all staring at their devices for 4 days straight.

Seriously though, you only get out of it what you put into it. If you make the effort to attend the sessions that really impact your job, you will take back with you valuable info that can help with maintenance, repair, and support for your users. I recommend you look at the sessions listed for the Mobile Architecture and Admin track and make your selections from there. Be sure to register for them in advance to guarantee yourself a seat; especially in the BES 5.0 sessions. Those will probably fill up in a hurry!

Just off the top of my head if I was a support role type (handheld deployment/user support)

I'd attend these sessions:

WA26 Putting Your End Users In-the-Know
WA39 Keep it Simple: Wirelessly Upgrade Your BlackBerry Smartphones
WA41 BlackBerry Handheld Tips and Tricks
WT01 What's Hot? What's Coming In Mobility?
WA03 Customer Panel Session – An Inside Look at BES 5.0
WA09 Blackberry Resource Kit: Leveraging the Power of Your Support Team with a Self Service Portal

The best aspect is meeting with peers and networking.

We'll be setting up some meet & greets as it gets closer. Hopefully Boxtone will have a nice lounge again.

Went the last 2 years but won't be able to go this year. No funding for conferences allowed! Oh well, looks like I will be reading BGR instead from work.

Just got the word from my boss that I am to go to WES and get everything booked ASAP.

w00t!

After many tries I finally got a room at the Marriot. Woo hoo!!!!

I just realized i can book a 6 bedroom, 4 bathroom house with a private screened in pool/jacuzzi, game room, and lake view within a few miles of Disney and the Marriott for like $125 a night. Why am I booked at $217 a night at the Marriott? I may give my room up since the wife, daughter and two other family members are coming...

Yup, I'm doing the vacation home rental also. Screw staying in a cramped, overpriced hotel!

My company wants to send me, all expenses paid, to a 5 star resort where the service and facilities are beyond great..... be wined and dined with 5,000 of the most awesomely fun herd of I.T. nerds.....and all I have to do is make sure I show up! How great is that!:razz:

I stayed off site last year and found it to be very tiring going back and forth and lugging around all my stuff during the day. Even having a car - it was a pain because it was such a looong walk thru the parking lot.
Looking forward to sleeping in a little longer in the morning and being able to leave and pick up things from my room as I need it. Perhaps even take a nap!

IMHO It's worth the price of admission to be at the Marriott.
Perhaps if my family was going with me I'd consider renting a house.....
Nahhh! They like being pampered just as much as me.
I agree though - if you're footing the bill for your family, a house rental would be easier on the budget.

Just my 2 cents :smile:

That's awesome man! BBM or email me your flight info. Hope you get there on Sunday morning. We can "network" for the rest of the day Sunday and Monday. I think AlanM is getting there early afternoon on Sunday.

I wasn't that impressed with the Marriott when I stayed there a few years ago at another conference. Unless you have a nice suite, there's nothing special about the hotel room IMO. I just completed the rental deal and have a private heated pool and jacuzzi at the 5BR, 3BA house. I enjoy being able to spread out and relax and since I'm bringing the kids, this works out much better than everyone being cramped in a hotel room.

Only thing I'll need to "lug" with me is my BlackBerry. 8-)

Let me know about the meet and greets. I will definitly be there. I'm with the House and no, she won't be attending. ROFL!!!!

No official meet & greet for us yet. Last year, we all kinda met up at the Boxtone Lounge and at the WICKSoft booth... . I hope Will and Shayne make it again this year.

I dont see an update, did you get it to work yet? ;-)

lol yeah I had to mess around a lot and wait even more. I think having >14700 cal entries might be the cause 8-).

Has anyone heard yet what the entertainment will be for the RIM Party this year? No big deal, just curious.

I don't think anyone knows yet that I have heard. AT&T isn't saying either. Just says "surprise guests" on their event invite.

I've heard rumors, but nothing solid. Lets see what we know and what we can speculate on.....

Last year John Mayer was sponsored by BlackBerry on his tour.
This year, BlackBerry is sponsoring U2. Their tour starts in Barcelona on June 30; more than enough time to play in Orlando. And their only other Florida stop is in Tampa.

My plane lands in Orlando 11:35 am Sunday. I can meet you at the Marriott.

I think we can arrange that. Now we just have to decide which external BES fellowship activity will enhance our communication and teamwork skills.
I'm even considering Universal as WES is a world-wide event and we want to be sure to encompass as many diverse activities as possible.

(Yes, I AM a master wordsmith...)

I will be attending this year alone, due to the restrictions on travel. I will need to hook up with some new friends this year.

hey i see you're in ok......im in okc and i will be at wes this year again and the only one from my company as well

I have it on good authority that the AT&T House of Blues musical entertainment is... (Drum roll please)

Kenny Loggins

Thats already been established....AT&T has updated their site as well to reflect "Top Gun Party".....supergay. The only reason i'm going is open bar and hopes of another free blackberry. Who knows, with all the free drinks i may be in the middle of the dancefloor by the end of the night singing along to Footloose, Danger Zone, and who can forget the "I'm Alright" themesong from Caddyshack!

Coming up quick!
 

Can't believe how fast WES is coming up.

Anybody want to find something to do Tuesday night? Entertainment for the WES party has been announced.... and it aint U2. :x

WES 2009: Conference Highlights

That's just not right :sad: