4D Summit 2012 Photos

Here is a collection of photos from the 4D Summit in San Jose, CA, October 23 - 26, 2012.

	Tuesday, October 23, 2012: The Orchard crew (all seven of us) were delayed several hours leaving Indy and ended up with hours to kill in Salt Lake City when we missed our connecting flight to San Jose.
	We ended up arriving in San Francisco four hours after we were supposed to arrive in San Jose, but the arrival of our limo suddenly made everything okay.
	After 15 hours of travelling, we arrived at the opening reception late but the beer was cold and we were glad to finally be in California.
	Wednesday, October 24, 2012: It was dark when the alarm went off the next morning, but waking up was easy since my brain was still on Eastern time.
	Here's some of the swag 4D gave us this year.
	Let's get this Summit started!
	After an opening video featuring Laurent and the many changes to 4D over the years, Tom spent some time on the Summit theme of Information Everywhere.
	Michel's talk was very well-received, where he outlined the marketing campaigns he worked on during his first full year with 4D, with the goal of introducing 4D to a new audience.
	We got a quick marketing tutorial on the differences between the old and new 4D home pages, and what the redesigned page is intended to do. It was great to see the emphasis on drawing in potential new developers.
	The Thibaud-and-Josh show did not disappoint, as usual.
	They covered a variety of upcoming features, but were not specific about which versions might include them. Note the "(s)" at the end of the title specifically designed to be a little vague.
	Wakanda and 4D are friends.
	At every conference in every hotel in every city, soft drinks are not served in the mornings, so non-coffee drinkers like myself are forced to wait until the hotel gift shop opens at 10:00 before getting our shot of caffeine. Jeff brought this into the session I was in, and I nearly wept with happiness when he handed it to me.
	At Michel's marketing session, he elaborated on the use of various tools to drive traffic to the 4D website and to measure their effectiveness.
	After that, I snuck out for an early lunch date with my friend Passi who works in San Jose. We were classmates in both high school and college, but hadn't seen each other since college graduation, so it was great fun to catch up.
	There were many familiar heads in the afternoon sessions, ...
	... including these two guys with Orchard Software logos on the backs of their shirts.
	Another session, another set of familiar heads.
	My room on the 15th floor of the Fairmont's main tower was large and beautiful, ...
	... with an excellent view of Silicon Valley in the afternoon sun.
	Later in the evening, Jeff and I attended the annual OEM dinner at the Grill on the Alley with the usual cast of characters.
	Thanks to Michel and Tom for hosting a fun evening again!
	Thursday, October 25, 2012: Morning once again, it was time for the second day of 4D coverage.
	The morning's keynote started out with a panel of 4D customers discussing their projects, including Justin's discussion of his Ticketmaster app, developed with the help of a veritable Who's Who of famous 4D names.
	There was another great Thibaud session on optimization, ...
	... and another great Miyako session on Google apps.
	Here are a few shots of the area around the hotel, including the McCormick and Schmick's right next door, ...
	... the Fairmont San Jose with the Plaza de Cesar Chavez in the foreground, ...
	... and the Tech Museum just on the other side of the plaza.
	I skipped the final session and the Q&A wrap-up to meet my friend, Marcel, for pastries next door.
	The Evening with 4D began with a short walk across the plaza.
	We got a nice Australian man to take a photo of the Orchard Software group.
	This year's party featured special guest star Lee, making a very rare appearance. Lee was smart enough to be drinking a Coke.
	After a delicious buffet dinner, the band started up, and these gentlemen could not refrain from busting a move right at the table.
	Wayne and Ant showed up with the first round of what turned out to be approximately 1000 margaritas.
	Within moments, we were all drinking them.
	A moment later, we ended up singing backup to "Twist and Shout" with the band.
	Brian and I took our annual portrait. We just get better and better looking every year.
	Next up was the hula hoop competition, with three women first, ...
	... then three men, ...
	... another three women, including me, ...
	... and another three men.
	Next thing I knew, I was summoned to the floor again to ensure my complete humiliation. Three hula hoops? Are you serious?
	My hair and I gave it our best shot (thanks to Ron Dell'Aquila for the use of his photo) ...
	... but it's been many decades since I was the neighborhood Hula Hoop champion and it showed.
	This guy was a natural and showed us all how it is done.
	Stacey was training an adorable guide puppy, and he was getting a little sleepy after getting so much attention from all the partygoers.
	Tamara and Justin are about the cutest couple ever.
	While the band took a break, "Gangnam Style" came over the speakers and the boys could not resist showing off their moves.
	Yes, there are the Orchard boys too. I was so proud.
	From there, it was time to get on the dance floor for "Johnny B. Goode" with John and Jonathan.
	After another song or two, we finally got Shawn out on the dance floor.
	Michel was a strong enough dance lead that even clumsy me was able to look like I knew how to dance. I also slowly learned to dance the two-step with Rob.
	It was Milan's birthday and he sure did appreciate this big party just for him.
	The Orchard boys had gotten the bartender (nicknamed "The Wizard") to concoct some sort of delicious green drink, which prompted Wayne's phone to declare "It's green must be healthy." Yes, Wayne's phone, you're right.
	There was more dancing to "Jesse's Girl" and "Dancing Queen" and other songs appealing to our age group.
	John C. showed the alternate cocktail that the alternate bartender (nicknamed the "The Wizard's Janitor") concocted.
	Then he showed the correct reaction to the concoction, best described as a cross between Ty-D-Bowl and Scope mouthwash. It tasted horrible but anyone trying it would have fresh breath for a week.
	Shawn didn't really mind it.
	Yay! The Wizard returned to the bar and the delicious green drinks returned once again.
	Meanwhile, the margaritas continued to flow ...
	... and flow.
	Chip was there, ...
	... and Michel stopped by for a photo op with the Orchard boys.
	Ginger took no fewer than 100 photos of us in varying combinations of people.
	Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the Australian contingent. Someone in this photo coined the term "WaChunda" at some point, but my memory is weak.
	Friday, October 26, 2012: Our cruel alarms went off four hours after getting back to the hotel, and we waited in front of the hotel nearly a half hour for our limo driver to show up.
	But it worked out fine because we made our dawn flight out of San Jose, ...
	... and enjoyed a quick lunch ...
	... and ontime departure out of Minneapolis, arriving home right on schedule. See you next year in Vegas!