Theo’s Blog

Theo’s Blog Carpe Diem (cum vino) http://blog.xceed.be/Blog.nsf/ en-us Sun, 28 Feb 2010 12:45:00 +0200 BLUG: March 30th 2010: Speaker announcements Sun, 28 Feb 2010 12:45:00 +0200 http://blog.xceed.be/blog.nsf/dx/blug-march-30th-2010-speaker-announcements Lotus Theo Heselmans http://blog.xceed.be/blog.nsf/dx/blug-march-30th-2010-speaker-announcements?opendocument&comments http://blog.xceed.be/blog.nsf/dx/blug-march-30th-2010-speaker-announcements

Image:BLUG: March 30th 2010: Speaker announcements

A month from now, our full day BLUG event is coming on March 30th. Today we announce the complete agenda and all approved sessions. It was tough to decide which abstracts would be accepted. And as usual those that made it are happy, and others are disappointed.
The only winners are the attendees, and boy, do we have something for you !

Image:BLUG: March 30th 2010: Speaker announcements

Our keynote speaker will be Alistair Rennie,
the new GM of IBM Lotus Software !

We got some more great and famous speakers lined up !
Warren Elsmore, Gabriella Davis, Stuart McIntyre, Matt White, Thomas Bahn, Ulrich Krause, Tim Clark and many others, will be there for you.
Here's the full list of approved sessions,
and the days agenda.

Your sponsorship is still very welcome.
Our current sponsors so far: Thank you !

Registration for the Event is required. Hurry, seats are limited.

Hope to see a lot of you there ! ]]> http://blog.xceed.be/blog.nsf/dxcomments/blug-march-30th-2010-speaker-announcements http://blog.xceed.be/blog.nsf/dx/blug-march-30th-2010-speaker-announcements?opendocument&comments When Abraham meets Petrus Mon, 15 Feb 2010 20:00:00 +0200 http://blog.xceed.be/blog.nsf/dx/when-abraham-meets-petrus Personal Theo Heselmans http://blog.xceed.be/blog.nsf/dx/when-abraham-meets-petrus?opendocument&comments http://blog.xceed.be/blog.nsf/dx/when-abraham-meets-petrus Image:When Abraham meets Petrus

No, I haven't been to the pearly gates, but I've been close to heaven and met Saint Peter (Petrus).
Let me explain.
Last Thursday evening I organized a party for my 50th birthday. Over 80 customers, friends and family showed up at the Cordoba'r, a Moorish tapas bar in Antwerp, Belgium. I had a great time, and I had the impression most of my guests enjoyed themselves too.
Image:When Abraham meets Petrus

I received some cool gifts of the fluid type:
excellent wines, champagnes, whisky's, beers (how come people know I like this stuff;-).
But also a helicopter flight, flown by Peter himself (just learning to fly!). Some beautiful books, DVDs, gift cards... I even got my first vine !
The bottle I was most thrilled about was a Chateau Petrus 1960. This chateau in Pomerol (Bordeaux, France) is a legend by itself. Receiving a bottle like this from your year of birth is nothing short of a miracle! 1960 was a lousy year in Bordeaux for reds (weird, as both 1959 and 1961 were just excellent). I do not intent to drink it though, but you can touch it if you happen to pass by ;-)
So, to all people who wished me a happy birthday, via my blog, skype, phone, LinkedIn, sms (text) or in the flesh:
THANK YOU ! I'm truly blessed.

Here are some pictures of the party,
and here are some Photo Booth 'warped' photo's too. ]]> http://blog.xceed.be/blog.nsf/dxcomments/when-abraham-meets-petrus http://blog.xceed.be/blog.nsf/dx/when-abraham-meets-petrus?opendocument&comments Major Milestone: turning 50 ! Sun, 7 Feb 2010 08:00:00 +0200 http://blog.xceed.be/blog.nsf/dx/major-milestone-turning-50- Personal Theo Heselmans http://blog.xceed.be/blog.nsf/dx/major-milestone-turning-50-?opendocument&comments http://blog.xceed.be/blog.nsf/dx/major-milestone-turning-50- Me, 2-3 years old

Yes it's true: I've turned fifty today, and the world kept spinning :-)
It might be a milestone for me, but a non-event for most of the galaxy.
Nevertheless, reaching 50 started me thinking (a but more than I usually do).
When I look back I realize how blessed I've been. I could complain or weep, but I'm just grateful for those past 50 years.
I've met some amazing people, and I still do every day. I've learned so much, and I'm glad I can pass it on to others.

Here's a list of what I consider milestones in my live:

1960: (Feb 7th) was born in my home town Tessenderlo, Belgium at 1.50h (am)
1977: played with a computer for the first time (a Tandy TRS-80)
1982: got married to Hilde (almost 28 years now: thanks love)
1983: bought my first computer (an Apple IIe)
1983: got my degree as an Industrial Engineer (focus on IT)
1984: bought my first Macintosh (a Macintosh 512K)
1985: started using MS Excel
1987: co-founded a company called Gnosis (still exists today as Merant)
1988: bought a house in Olen, Belgium (still living there)
1993: started working for Vers a Versa
1993: learned about Lotus Notes for the first time
1995: went to my first Lotusphere in Orlando (15th time in 2010)
1998: got bitten by the wine bug (thanks for that, Yves)
2001: started my own company: Xceed (should have done this sooner)
2007: started blogging and got introduced to the Lotus community
2009: got involved in the BLUG
2010: turned fifty

Do you agree that these are milestones ?
Have you got some that could apply to me too, and I should have mentioned ?
What are important milestones for you ?
Let me know. ]]> http://blog.xceed.be/blog.nsf/dxcomments/major-milestone-turning-50- http://blog.xceed.be/blog.nsf/dx/major-milestone-turning-50-?opendocument&comments LS2010: in Pictures Mon, 25 Jan 2010 22:00:00 +0200 http://blog.xceed.be/blog.nsf/dx/ls2010-in-pictures Lotus Theo Heselmans http://blog.xceed.be/blog.nsf/dx/ls2010-in-pictures?opendocument&comments http://blog.xceed.be/blog.nsf/dx/ls2010-in-pictures LS2010

I took some picture at Lotusphere (including the Blogger Open event). Have a look:
]]> http://blog.xceed.be/blog.nsf/dxcomments/ls2010-in-pictures http://blog.xceed.be/blog.nsf/dx/ls2010-in-pictures?opendocument&comments LS2010: Day 4: Thursday: Wrap up and Golf Fri, 22 Jan 2010 06:30:00 -0400 http://blog.xceed.be/blog.nsf/dx/ls2010-day-4-thursday-wrap-up-and-golf Lotus Theo Heselmans http://blog.xceed.be/blog.nsf/dx/ls2010-day-4-thursday-wrap-up-and-golf?opendocument&comments http://blog.xceed.be/blog.nsf/dx/ls2010-day-4-thursday-wrap-up-and-golf LS2010

The final day is usually kinda mixed: a couple of sessions, some 'closing' events, and some great networking. Let's go over the day:
Julian Robichaux did an excellent session around iPhone development. Too bad Rob MacDonagh had an emergency at the office; we all missed him.
I had an appointment at the UX lab, and talked to Ethan about Connections (I've been using it for a couple of months, and really did have some UI issues, which apparently will be covered in 3.0 ;-)
Gurupalooza was great as always. It's not really about the questions (nor the answers), but about the wonderful people being on stage. We all admire and respect them, and we owe them a lot. They are the ones that make Lotusphere better then good ! I did not go to the Developer's beating, nor to the closing session (although I met the speaker later on at Kimonos).
Did some shopping afterwards (yes, again). At 17.30h it was time for the 2nd bloggeropen event. Around 40 people gathered for a game of mini-golf. We had loads of fun. I was so lucky to be in the same team as Mary Beth Raven, Kitty Elsmore, Sean Burgess and Steve (sorry, didn't got your last name). I took quite some pictures of everybody. As soon as I've a faster connection (and the time), I'll upload them (to be continued). Phil was the days winner, with a really low score (Steve, Bill and Richard where very close). One anecdote I absolutely need to mention: the last hole, was pretty easy, but one guy managed to need 2 shots in order to complete it (I won't mention names, Luis). Great fun; kudos to the sponsors (Northern Collaborative Technologies and IDoNotes) and Mitch for setting it up.
Had a great dinner at Shula's (a 22 ounce Cowboy steak !). I truly enjoyed the company of Bill, David and Gary. Thanks guys.
Kimonos

As it was pretty early (21.45h), we went to Kimonos. I finally met Peter Presnell, and caught up with a lot of folks: Bruce, Gayle, Bill, Gary, Kitty, Tim (and his wife), Darren, Jess (who's really has a great voice), Kathy, Stuart, Bill Bucan (who has a rather high voice when he's singing ;-), Spanky, Greg, Sean, Phil (and many more).
I couldn't have had a more pleasant ending to a great week in Orlando.
Image:LS2010: Day 4: Thursday: Wrap up and Golf

Image:LS2010: Day 4: Thursday: Wrap up and Golf

I'm already counting down to next year's event: January 30 - February 3: put it in your calendar, as you don't want to miss this one !
Thanks all for making this a Lotusphere to remember fondly.
2am again: glad I don't have to wake up at 6.30h ]]> http://blog.xceed.be/blog.nsf/dxcomments/ls2010-day-4-thursday-wrap-up-and-golf http://blog.xceed.be/blog.nsf/dx/ls2010-day-4-thursday-wrap-up-and-golf?opendocument&comments LS2010: Day 3: Wednesday: More sessions, less party Thu, 21 Jan 2010 06:30:00 -0400 http://blog.xceed.be/blog.nsf/dx/ls2010-day-3-wednesday-more-sessions-less-party Lotus Theo Heselmans http://blog.xceed.be/blog.nsf/dx/ls2010-day-3-wednesday-more-sessions-less-party?opendocument&comments http://blog.xceed.be/blog.nsf/dx/ls2010-day-3-wednesday-more-sessions-less-party LS2010

I woke up, without a hangover, but with a serious lack of sleep. A shower, and some juice did wonders. I spent some time in the labs, and saw some great stuff at the Innovation lab. 'XPages just keep getting better' showed us a bit the direction XPages is going, and the future looks bright ! IBM really sees XPages as being strategic.
More XPages wonders when Tim Tripcony and Stephan Wissel showed some cool SSJS demo's. It's obvious we're just scratching the surface of this environment.
Andre Guirard and his team are close to having real DXL roundtripping. IBM is listening ! This has been a long standing request. Great work guys.
Ed Brill and Scott Souder brought back some fond memories of 20 years Lotus history. In a packed room we saw the birth of Lotus (aka Plato) 1.0, all the way up to 8.5.1. Lots of pictures, people and movies of way back.
The final 'session' of the day, was a BOF about creating and running a user group. As I'm pretty heavily involved in the BLUG, this was pretty interesting. In a way to small room, about 40 people exchanged ideas. Just the fact that so many are involved in User Groups is invigorating. Lotus definitely has momentum here.

It took quite some time to get on the bus and off again at the Hollywood Studios, but we finally got there. Only 4 attractions were open, and 3 of them had rather long waiting times. The funniest one was Toy Story, where you could shoot 3D targets using a 'gun'. Great fun.
Really need some decent sleep. It's midnight now. Let's hit the sack.
Got some cool things coming up tomorrow. Cu. ]]> http://blog.xceed.be/blog.nsf/dxcomments/ls2010-day-3-wednesday-more-sessions-less-party http://blog.xceed.be/blog.nsf/dx/ls2010-day-3-wednesday-more-sessions-less-party?opendocument&comments LS2010: Day 2: Tuesday: A normal day at the office Wed, 20 Jan 2010 06:30:00 -0400 http://blog.xceed.be/blog.nsf/dx/ls2010-day-2-tuesday-a-normal-day-at-the-office Lotus Theo Heselmans http://blog.xceed.be/blog.nsf/dx/ls2010-day-2-tuesday-a-normal-day-at-the-office?opendocument&comments http://blog.xceed.be/blog.nsf/dx/ls2010-day-2-tuesday-a-normal-day-at-the-office LS2010

First session: Viktor Krantz and Rob Novak: the great code giveway: awesome as usual. Not as 'contained' as last year, but for me way more useful.
Stephan Wissel and Steve Castledine enhanced our existing applications using Xpages, and they did it in style.
Paul Mooney and Bill Bucan: what can I say: they must have been twins in a previous life; they are so 'in sync'. Hilarious and very educational at the same time. Good thing I saw Billl's pre-session slides up front or I would have ROFLOL.
Declan Lynch and David Leedy (a first timer) pulled it of nicely: CSS and Themes in Xpages: Thanks guys, I learned a lot.
Then it was up to Bruce Elgort and Tim Paque (another newbie), to do some firefighting. Bruce told me yesterday it was all low key, but is was concise, to the point and very much appreciated. Tim: you did just great !!
Networking time again: Too much on my plate this evening. First a dinner with IBM US and Ernst & Young: too bad I had to leave early. Melanie: tx for the invite. I'll try to join you in 2011 too (if you'll have me). Wine tip: we had a d' Arenberg 'Laughing Magpie' 2007 Shiraz: a bit young, but nevertheless excellent !
Then I went to the Teamstudio reception. I fondly remember last year's event, when I has announced the winner of their Spotlight Award. This time it was more subdued, as the winner was not at Lotusphere.
I needed to rush to the dinner, hosted by IBM Belgium/Luxembourg, in Il Mulino, down at the Swan. Both Stijn and Ronny were celebrating their birthday ! Congrats guys. We all had a good time. Thanks Laurent (and Douglas) for a great night: good company good food, good wine and a Talisker to finish: what more can a man want ?
I met Matt White on my way to my room, and I joined him (no, he didn't twist my arm) to Kimono's. Stuart, Paul, Julian, Kathy, Rob, Jess, ..: nice to see you again. The karaoke singers really tried hard (I know I can't sing so I stay off the podium).
Anyway, another marvelous day. 2.50 AM: time to go to bed: NOW !
cu. ]]> http://blog.xceed.be/blog.nsf/dxcomments/ls2010-day-2-tuesday-a-normal-day-at-the-office http://blog.xceed.be/blog.nsf/dx/ls2010-day-2-tuesday-a-normal-day-at-the-office?opendocument&comments LS2010: Day 1: Monday: OGS, showcase and even more drinks Tue, 19 Jan 2010 06:30:00 -0400 http://blog.xceed.be/blog.nsf/dx/ls2010-day-1-monday-ogs-showcase-and-even-more-drinks Lotus Theo Heselmans http://blog.xceed.be/blog.nsf/dx/ls2010-day-1-monday-ogs-showcase-and-even-more-drinks?opendocument&comments http://blog.xceed.be/blog.nsf/dx/ls2010-day-1-monday-ogs-showcase-and-even-more-drinks LS2010

I woke up (a bit late for breakfast :-), and went straight to the OGS (Opening General Session). I was sitting next to Rob McDonnagh, and enjoyed his twittering and the tweets he was following (damn, should I register on twitter ?). To be honest, this was the weakest OGS I've been to. Sure, we 'finally' got William Shatner (Capt. Kirk for you Trekkies), who was good, but it seemed so polished: one more 'collaboration', and I would have puked. Sure, there were some great announcements (improvements to the whole product line, iPhone app for encrypted mail, project Vulcan (the future direction for Notes). Sure, we got a good (but a bit long) speech from Bob Picciano, followed by the new GM of Lotus Alistair Rennie, doing his best, but not really at ease yet in his new role. Kevin and Jeff, doing the product announcements, with demos from Ron. It was all rather OK, but I missed the 'spark'. I never got 'excited'. Really, for me, the worst OGS, ever !
William Shatner

Capt. James T. Kirk himself. Who would have thought after all these years !
Bob Piccianor

Bob Picciano, accompanied by a plethora of BPs.

Alistair Rennie, the reigning GM of Lotus
Then off to see Maureen Leland: A bit long about 8.5 and 8.5.1, and rather short on 8.5.x. Promising, but evolutionary.
The rest of the (working) day I spent most of the time talking to vendors on the product showcase. I love seeing new or improved products and seeing new and familiar faces again. This year however, in my new BLUG role, I had the 'pleasure' of looking for sponsors too. A necessary evil, but we need them to give our BLUG attendees the best experience, and at the same make sure the sponsors get their money's worth too.
The rest of the day can be described with: Party Time.

Showcase reception: for once good beer (Sam Adams) and decent fingerfood
The Dutch drink over at the Boardwalk: Marnix being the gracious host as ever (the 7th time he organized this for the Dutch speaking attendees)
Back to the Dolphin for a cocktail party, hosted by Joe and Bill. I had an amazing drink (forgot the name, but it contained at east some cognac and cointreau)
Then over to a packed party, offered by the UKLUG. Wonderful chaps, aren't they ? Blimey !
Last (but least ;-) IBM hosted a party at the Atlantic Dance hall for Business Partners. Luckily I met some nice people to finish the evening with.

I had to decline a BBQ invitation, but my schedule was already rather full. Next time guys.
Tired, but satisfied. Going to sleep now. Another 'short' night. CU. ]]> http://blog.xceed.be/blog.nsf/dxcomments/ls2010-day-1-monday-ogs-showcase-and-even-more-drinks http://blog.xceed.be/blog.nsf/dx/ls2010-day-1-monday-ogs-showcase-and-even-more-drinks?opendocument&comments LS2010: Day 0: Sunday: BP and more drinks Mon, 18 Jan 2010 06:30:00 -0400 http://blog.xceed.be/blog.nsf/dx/ls2010-day-0-sunday-bp-and-more-drinks Lotus Theo Heselmans http://blog.xceed.be/blog.nsf/dx/ls2010-day-0-sunday-bp-and-more-drinks?opendocument&comments http://blog.xceed.be/blog.nsf/dx/ls2010-day-0-sunday-bp-and-more-drinks LS2010

I've always registered for BP (Business Partner) day but as Sundays always has been my 'shopping' day, I've never attended. Well, I did go to the Keynote this year. It was OK, but, being a 'very small' BP myself, this is way over my (non-sales) head.
BP keynote LS2010

I did manage to do some shopping anyway. Line, Ankie: I got most of the stuff you asked me to buy ;-).
Then it was off to my first party of the day: Sherpa (and others) offered great beer (they even had Sam Adams !). I caught up with Andy Donaldson, and we went to The Turtle's session. Scott was just hilarious !

Andrew Donaldson	Devin Olson	Rocky Oliver
Bob Balaban	The Turtle	David Leedy
Scott's wife's rabbits

Then we all went to the Pool Party Welcome Reception. I met some great people again, and (hopefully) convinced some to be a speaker/sponsor for our upcoming BLUG event on March 30th in Brussels.

Image:LS2010: Day 0: Sunday: BP and more drinks

Stephan Wissel

Kevin Pettitt

Thomas Bahn

Volker Weber

Tim Clark

Mary Beth Raven (wizard queen)

Bill Bucan

Had an excellent day. Tomorrow is the OGS (Opening General Sessions, for you, non Spherians).
Looking forward to it. ]]> http://blog.xceed.be/blog.nsf/dxcomments/ls2010-day-0-sunday-bp-and-more-drinks http://blog.xceed.be/blog.nsf/dx/ls2010-day-0-sunday-bp-and-more-drinks?opendocument&comments LS2010: Day -1: Saturday: having a drink Sun, 17 Jan 2010 06:30:00 -0400 http://blog.xceed.be/blog.nsf/dx/ls2010-day-1-saturday-having-a-drink Domino/Notes Theo Heselmans http://blog.xceed.be/blog.nsf/dx/ls2010-day-1-saturday-having-a-drink?opendocument&comments http://blog.xceed.be/blog.nsf/dx/ls2010-day-1-saturday-having-a-drink LS2010

This is my 15th Lotusphere, but my first time on campus (at the Dolphin itself).
After a bad start in Brussels (1 hour late departure due to a technical problem), I barely got my connection flight from JFK to Orlando (my luggage didn't make it though).
I had a great chat with Sean, who works for UNICEF, and who was heading for Lotusphere too.
After checking in, I immediately went to the ESPN where I met the 'cool' guys & girls: Scott (the Turtle), Bruce, Gayle, Ben, Tim, Matt, Paul, Julian, Troy, Bob, Mitch, Gary, Victor, Andy, Sean, Bill and many others.
Had some excellent Sam Adams ;-)
Some pictures here (some were not for publication):

Matt White: love your T-shirt	Julian Robichaux: Ben (Poole) are you paying attention	Bruce Elgort: serious as ever
Tim Paque: care for another Sam Adams, Viktor (Krantz)

Great start for a great week. But after being awake for 24 h., I need my beauty sleep.
Until 2morrow. ]]> http://blog.xceed.be/blog.nsf/dxcomments/ls2010-day-1-saturday-having-a-drink http://blog.xceed.be/blog.nsf/dx/ls2010-day-1-saturday-having-a-drink?opendocument&comments Found a great Italian (and an incredible Scotch as well) Wed, 13 Jan 2010 16:00:00 +0200 http://blog.xceed.be/blog.nsf/dx/found-a-great-italian-and-an-incredible-scotch-as-well Wine Theo Heselmans http://blog.xceed.be/blog.nsf/dx/found-a-great-italian-and-an-incredible-scotch-as-well?opendocument&comments http://blog.xceed.be/blog.nsf/dx/found-a-great-italian-and-an-incredible-scotch-as-well Image:Found a great Italian (and an incredible Scotch as well)

Image:Found a great Italian (and an incredible Scotch as well)

No, nothing to do with Lotus(phere) this time, but after a long hiatus a small wine-blog-entry.
Yesterday, at my wine club 'Het Negende Vat' (the 9th Barrel) we had a great (and expensive) tasting. The subject was Italian Brunello di Montalcino.
Now, I'm not a great fan of Italian wine (except for Sicilian Nero d'Avolo and Alto Adige's Lagrein), but I was pleasantly surprised.
The star of the evening was the Casanova di Neri 2003 (Tenuta Nuova):

very dark rather concentrated color (unlike most Brunello's)
ripe black forest fruit, black pepper, blond tobacco in the nose.
You just could keep on sniffing ! Even the empty glass smelled delicious !
powerful taste, well balanced, integrated tannins, full bodied, very long spicy finale
sangiovese (of course), 14,5% alc., 44 EUR (in Belgium e.g. sold by Vinhmm), around $70 in the US (e.g. here), 92 Parker points

Runner ups: Fanti 2004, Lambardi 2003, Palazzo 1998.
Thanks a lot Heidi, for this nice selection.
If it wasn't for the price, I would surely buy more Brunello.
Image:Found a great Italian (and an incredible Scotch as well)

Bjorn, her husband, opened a couple of bottles of Grappa (a few from Montalcino too), but I'm not into this stuff.
Was it to please me, I don't know, but he came up with a very nice bottle of Scotch Whisky:
a Talisker single malt, from the Isle of Skye. A rather strong peat smoke in the nose, but smooth on the palate.
I'm normally not that enamored by this strong smokiness, but I did like this one.
I'll try to blog a bit more about wine this year, that's a promise.
]]> http://blog.xceed.be/blog.nsf/dxcomments/found-a-great-italian-and-an-incredible-scotch-as-well http://blog.xceed.be/blog.nsf/dx/found-a-great-italian-and-an-incredible-scotch-as-well?opendocument&comments LS2010: 10 things you should not forget Wed, 6 Jan 2010 06:30:00 +0200 http://blog.xceed.be/blog.nsf/dx/ls2010-10-things-you-should-not-forget Lotus Theo Heselmans http://blog.xceed.be/blog.nsf/dx/ls2010-10-things-you-should-not-forget?opendocument&comments http://blog.xceed.be/blog.nsf/dx/ls2010-10-things-you-should-not-forget LS2010

Lotusphere is my reward for a year's work.
It's 'battery charging time' to give me enough yellow juice for another year.
As a small company, it's also a rather big expense: entrance fee, flight, hotel and a week revenue loss.
But the moment I get on the plane to Orlando, I'm on my way to my second 'home': the Orlando airport, the airport shuttle train, the big ads for park attractions along the road, Mickey's 'Welcome to Disneyworld' banner, the Disney palms and immaculately cut lawns, the impressive Dolphin and Swan hotels, the friendly LS registration bots, my new backpack, but above all my 'yearly' friends and colleagues.
This is my 15th Lotusphere, and I'm still full of keen anticipation !

Here's a list of things you should not forget to do/pack (in random order):

Good shoes/sneakers (everyone says so, and they are right, as you'll walk a lot)
Picture ID (passport or driver license with your picture on it, as you need it for registering)
Business cards (to win stuff at the Product Showcase, and to get info sent about great products)
Power strip and charging adapters for your electronic stuff (mobile phone, laptop, ipod, camera,...)
Extra (empty) bag, in case you have amassed a lot of (paper) info, goodies, gifts, books
List of questions/requests to ask to the Developers ! (You can really talk directly to the Notes/Domino developers: they love to meet you)
An old Lotus(phere) T-shirt for the Showcase Reception on Monday evening
A warm sweater/fleece for the Pool-Party Welcome Reception on Sunday night (I might be cold, you'll need it)
A raincoat for the Disney's Hollywood Studios party on Wednesday evening (who said Florida has great weather !)
(Yellow) Lotus T-shirt for the flight in
Download The Lotusphere 2010 Agenda database by Ben Langhinrichs: study it, and plan ahead. Defining the sessions/bofs you want/need to go to is the toughest part of the conference. Don't forget to include plenty of time to visit the Product Showcase and the Labs !
If you're a blogger and you still have one:
your 'Read my Blog' button
(I still have a few left, so see me, and ask for one)
Last but not least: bring along your good mood, great smiles, positive energy, humor, open mind, eagerness to learn

If you're a foreigner (like me), (who doesn't visit the States often):

Passport & electronic Visa (English for Visum)
List of things/gift to buy (for yourself or others) (the dollar is still rather cheap)
List of books to buy

P.S. You can still register your flight using the Lotusphere 2010 flight registration system on the BLUG website,

Anything to add ? ]]> http://blog.xceed.be/blog.nsf/dxcomments/ls2010-10-things-you-should-not-forget http://blog.xceed.be/blog.nsf/dx/ls2010-10-things-you-should-not-forget?opendocument&comments Mail archiving: great solution ! Sat, 19 Dec 2009 11:28:40 +0200 http://blog.xceed.be/blog.nsf/dx/mail-archiving-great-solution- Lotus Theo Heselmans http://blog.xceed.be/blog.nsf/dx/mail-archiving-great-solution-?opendocument&comments http://blog.xceed.be/blog.nsf/dx/mail-archiving-great-solution- LS2010

When I was in Amsterdam, at NLLUG, I discovered a little gem from a company called Lialis. They got a cool archive solution for Notes mail. What amazed me most was that the mails remain visible in the users mail folders (unlike standard Notes archiving). It's just the 'body' (and attachments) of the mails that gets removed and archived. As soon as the user double clicks such an archived mail, it transparently opens the 'original' document. Searching can be done in both the live and the archived documents (at the same time). You can set up user profiles to (pre)define archive criteria and parameters. It's an entirely Notes/Domino based solution, so it works perfectly together with e.g. DAOS and iNotes. Take a look at their demo.
Image:Mail archiving: great solution !

I normally don't 'advertise' for solutions, unless I truly find it great stuff (like e.g. Ytria's tools).
Lialis will be at Lotusphere, so pay them a visit at booth 730 (under the IONET flag).

Disclaimer: these guys don't pay me anything (although I expect a free beer at LS :-) ]]> http://blog.xceed.be/blog.nsf/dxcomments/mail-archiving-great-solution- http://blog.xceed.be/blog.nsf/dx/mail-archiving-great-solution-?opendocument&comments LS2010: The Mile High Lotus Club: want to join ? Mon, 30 Nov 2009 07:15:00 +0200 http://blog.xceed.be/blog.nsf/dx/ls2010-the-mile-high-lotus-club-want-to-join- Lotus Theo Heselmans http://blog.xceed.be/blog.nsf/dx/ls2010-the-mile-high-lotus-club-want-to-join-?opendocument&comments http://blog.xceed.be/blog.nsf/dx/ls2010-the-mile-high-lotus-club-want-to-join- LS2010

Bart Meskens, working for a big Lotus customer, and key BLUG member, emailed me with a great initiative:
let's create a Mile High Lotus Club
aka 'The Yellow Flight'.

Here's his idea:
Many of us are flying into Orlando for Lotusphere pretty soon. We all arrive about the same time from all over the world.
If all of us flying, should wear 'Yellow' (preferably mentioning 'Lotus'), we would surely stand out, and show everyone we're bleeding Yellow, and just love Lotus.
Also, if we would have a means of letting each other know what flight we are on, we might be able to arrange to sit together on the flights.

What a great way of spreading the word !
So, I've created a Lotusphere 2010 flight registration system on the BLUG website,
Per Country/City you can see who is flying when, and on what flight.
If all of us flying in would register, this would enforce our community, even before LS officially starts !

What do you think ? ]]> http://blog.xceed.be/blog.nsf/dxcomments/ls2010-the-mile-high-lotus-club-want-to-join- http://blog.xceed.be/blog.nsf/dx/ls2010-the-mile-high-lotus-club-want-to-join-?opendocument&comments Having lunch with 82.002 Notes users Sat, 28 Nov 2009 07:58:50 +0200 http://blog.xceed.be/blog.nsf/dx/having-lunch-with-82.002-notes-users Lotus Theo Heselmans http://blog.xceed.be/blog.nsf/dx/having-lunch-with-82.002-notes-users?opendocument&comments http://blog.xceed.be/blog.nsf/dx/having-lunch-with-82.002-notes-users

Image:Having lunch with 82.002 Notes users

Last year I told you about the Belgian Ministry of Finance having 32.000 new Notes users.
The KBC Bank will migrate from Exchange to Notes: 50.000 users in total.
This was already mentioned at UKLUG in Edinburgh by Bob Picciano, and at NLLUG in Amsterdam by Kevin Cavanaugh.
This week I had lunch with the IT people, responsible for the Notes/Domino projects, from both the Ministry of Finance and KBC. Very nice guys to chat with. They even love talking about wine too ;-)
Since they have the largest Notes installed bases in Belgium, they wanted to know how they could work together with the BLUG.
As having so many users they have different needs and expectations from a User Group. You'll see more synergy in the future.
Any tips for them ? ]]> http://blog.xceed.be/blog.nsf/dxcomments/having-lunch-with-82.002-notes-users http://blog.xceed.be/blog.nsf/dx/having-lunch-with-82.002-notes-users?opendocument&comments Please don’t twitter on LinkedIn Sat, 28 Nov 2009 07:29:32 +0200 http://blog.xceed.be/blog.nsf/dx/please-dont-twitter-on-linkedin Personal Theo Heselmans http://blog.xceed.be/blog.nsf/dx/please-dont-twitter-on-linkedin?opendocument&comments http://blog.xceed.be/blog.nsf/dx/please-dont-twitter-on-linkedin

Since a couple of weeks twitter has an option to publish tweets directly to LinkedIn.
I don't mind that your LinkedIn status get's updated, as long as it's suited/useful for a business social network that LinkedIn is.
I really don't need to know you are going to arrive in city X within 10 minutes, going to take a bath or finished a nice walk with your dog!
More and more 'connections' seem to do this lately, and it just annoys me.
If I want to follow someone, I'll do so on twitter !

To finish my rant, I want to conclude with a tip for you avid twitterers:
To avoid potentially embarrassing gaffes (and annoy people), just add #in or #li to the business tweets and leave them off your updates about your cat’s latest antics.
Don't agree? Let me know !
Agree ? Write them a little mail to stop doing soo.
Often they might not even be aware. ]]> http://blog.xceed.be/blog.nsf/dxcomments/please-dont-twitter-on-linkedin http://blog.xceed.be/blog.nsf/dx/please-dont-twitter-on-linkedin?opendocument&comments Beyond User Interface Design: a tip for Mary Beth Wed, 18 Nov 2009 08:30:46 +0200 http://blog.xceed.be/blog.nsf/dx/beyond-user-interface-design-a-tip-for-mary-beth User Interface Theo Heselmans http://blog.xceed.be/blog.nsf/dx/beyond-user-interface-design-a-tip-for-mary-beth?opendocument&comments http://blog.xceed.be/blog.nsf/dx/beyond-user-interface-design-a-tip-for-mary-beth Image:Beyond User Interface Design: a tip for Mary Beth

Image:Beyond User Interface Design: a tip for Mary Beth

Yesterday I was invited at a Lotus BP event. Laurent Boes, Manager of Lotus Software for Belux gave a short overview of the current Lotus situation, and proceeded by introducing someone from a company called Netway.
During the brief presentation I was intrigued enough, to have a chat with the CEO of that company: Marc Van Rymenant.
So what do these guys do:
(my words, read their sales pitch on their site)
They apply behaviour science to analyze the way a user looks at a UI (a web page mostly). Not just looks with the eyes, but with the (subconscious) mind too. This results in practical guidelines to restyle/overhaul a company's website.
Every designer should (have) read 'Don't make me Think' by Steve Krug.
Netway goes beyond this, and proofs what works and what doesn't.
Marc told me about his personal blog: Simplifying Interfaces. A great read, with many practical examples and guidelines (start from the end, as some blogs are sequential).

So Mary Beths of this world: check them out, you might be in for a surprise !
Notes 10 might blow (y)our socks off ! ]]> http://blog.xceed.be/blog.nsf/dxcomments/beyond-user-interface-design-a-tip-for-mary-beth http://blog.xceed.be/blog.nsf/dx/beyond-user-interface-design-a-tip-for-mary-beth?opendocument&comments Lotus loves NLLUG, NLLUG loves Lotus Sat, 31 Oct 2009 06:52:21 +0200 http://blog.xceed.be/blog.nsf/dx/lotus-loves-nllug-nllug-loves-lotus Domino/Notes Theo Heselmans http://blog.xceed.be/blog.nsf/dx/lotus-loves-nllug-nllug-loves-lotus?opendocument&comments http://blog.xceed.be/blog.nsf/dx/lotus-loves-nllug-nllug-loves-lotus Image:Lotus loves NLLUG, NLLUG loves Lotus

Image:Lotus loves NLLUG, NLLUG loves Lotus

I've just spend 2 days at the first NLLUG conference in Amsterdam. Around 300 people attended this well-organized event. Kevin Cavanaugh (VP of Lotus) did the keynote, and pointed out the remarkable initiative of around 25 Dutch Lotus oriented Business Partners, that formed an alliance in order to promote the Lotus solutions in the Netherlands. They use the yellow heart as their symbol for the 'Lotus Loves People' campaign.
As usual (luckily) there was great session content. Rob Novak repeated this presentation from UKLUG, not only giving away awesome code (a cool end-user tool called 'MyDomino'), but also 'Free Beer'. Scotch would have been better, but in Holland you serve a Heineken ! The second day was just as great, with a big attendance for both splendid presentations of Gab Davis (yes, I did go to Admin sessions!).

Thank you, Rob !	Marnix, having a well deserved quick nap
Part of the happy organizers, sponsors, exhibitors and attendees at the closing session

With an interesting showcase, over 40 sessions, free beer (not only from Rob), lovely booth babes, friendly atmosphere, great networking, cool price drawings, and a remarkably well-oiled organisation, this is worth a repeat (which was already announced for June 17 & 18, 2010).
Marnix Kemme and his team can be proud. Thanks guys, cu next time for sure.
]]> http://blog.xceed.be/blog.nsf/dxcomments/lotus-loves-nllug-nllug-loves-lotus http://blog.xceed.be/blog.nsf/dx/lotus-loves-nllug-nllug-loves-lotus?opendocument&comments New Toy, New Joy: a 27" iMac Wed, 28 Oct 2009 09:00:00 +0200 http://blog.xceed.be/blog.nsf/dx/new-toy-new-joy-a-27-imac Macintosh Theo Heselmans http://blog.xceed.be/blog.nsf/dx/new-toy-new-joy-a-27-imac?opendocument&comments http://blog.xceed.be/blog.nsf/dx/new-toy-new-joy-a-27-imac Image:New Toy, New Joy: a 27" iMac

As I wanted more screen real estate to do decent XPages development, I just couldn't resist this beauty.
An incredibly huge and bright 27" screen (2560x1440 !!).
I installed Parallels and Windows 7.
Notes 8.5.1 development won't be the same again !

To put things in perspective, I took a picture of my new setup:

Image:New Toy, New Joy: a 27" iMac

Look at the 'small' 15" Macbook Pro, and my previous 'big' 19" screen on the left !
The same XPage is open on both machines on the right.
Notice that I haven't even gone to full screen mode on the iMac...

Still got so much to explore, learn and install, but I have to leave for the NLLUG event in Amsterdam today.
Hope my new toy is still there on Saturday ;-) ]]> http://blog.xceed.be/blog.nsf/dxcomments/new-toy-new-joy-a-27-imac http://blog.xceed.be/blog.nsf/dx/new-toy-new-joy-a-27-imac?opendocument&comments Spotlight Award 2010: go for it ! Wed, 21 Oct 2009 10:00:00 +0200 http://blog.xceed.be/blog.nsf/dx/spotlight-award-2010-go-for-it- Lotus Theo Heselmans http://blog.xceed.be/blog.nsf/dx/spotlight-award-2010-go-for-it-?opendocument&comments http://blog.xceed.be/blog.nsf/dx/spotlight-award-2010-go-for-it- LS2010

Remember my delight at Lotusphere 2009, when winning the Teamstudio Spotlight Award 2009.
This year Teamstudio does it again !

If you've created an incredible Lotus Notes application, then show the world you're a great developer !
You just have to explain the application
(and if you're one of the finalists, you have to demonstrate it over the web).
This means that also in-house developed apps are eligible !
eSurvey, the application I won with,
was developed for a customer of mine (who gave their approval).

These are the considerations for the Teamstudio Spotlight Award:
1. Complexity of task performed
2. Degree of automation
3. Size of user community
4. Business value
5. Creativity and innovation of design.

Beside making yourself (and/or your company/customer) look good, you get eternal fame, win some cool stuff, and walk away with all the great tools of Teamstudio.
So what are you waiting for:
Submit your great application ! You got until December 11th.

Here's the flyer from Teamstudio, with all the details. ]]> http://blog.xceed.be/blog.nsf/dxcomments/spotlight-award-2010-go-for-it- http://blog.xceed.be/blog.nsf/dx/spotlight-award-2010-go-for-it-?opendocument&comments