The JPUG conference yesterday here in Tokyo went really well, I think. As I've come to expect, a well arranged conference, and a lot of interested people there to listen.
For me the day started when I realized I had not finished my slides(!) The slides themselves were finished, but I had some highlighting to do (on the screen shot slides), and I had to polish a few minor things. So the time after breakfast was well spent on that. Around 11:30, Ishikawa-san came to pick me up at the hotel and we went to the SGI conference room where the talks were.
The conference itself started with Hiroshi-san doing a presentation on npgsql. He also showed a video of Francisco giving a welcome speak (originally Fransisco was supposed to be at the conference, but he was unfortunately not able to make it). Some minor technical issues, such as the video playback hanging and repeating one word over and over again, but still nice... Can't say much for Hiroshis talk, given that I didn't understand a word (other than the code slides), but as usual he was very persuasive...
After that, it was my turn. It was a pretty big crowd, about 100 people according to the numbers I heard (see picture, as seen from where I was standing). I think the talk went pretty well, and people did seem interested. I had a translator who translated everything I said into Japanese. I'm was quite impressed by her - she knew nothing about PostgreSQL (or really about technology in general), just the language. But the way she was able to remember a set of three to four sentences and then translate it all, with just a few very quick notes, was very impressive. And from what I heard, the translation was good - can't verify that myself, of course. Last time I spoke here (with Dave and Andreas) we were talking from transcripts that were translated beforehand. This time, the translation was live.
Once my talk was over, I had an interview with a reporter from Nikkei Business Publications about PostgreSQL on Windows in particular and some general things about PostgreSQL. Hopefully, it will turn into a nice article.
The rest of the day was spent with talks by Enomoto Atsushi (from Ximian/Novell) about ADO.NET in Mono, and by Jun Kuwamura about using PostgreSQL for LDAP on Windows. (picture as seen from my position in the back of the room, during the LDAP talk. I confess to checking my email during the talk) Again, I can't really speak for the contents of the talk, as I didn't understand much. But there were pretty screen shots...
Once we packed up after the conference, we went for a JPUG dinner at a place called something-or-other Beer Station. In English! I understood what it said on the door. And given that it said Beer station, what could I do but approve... We had a nice dinner, and many interesting people from JPUG to talk to. It's very interesting to hear about PostgreSQL usage here in Japan - in some ways, it's way ahead of Europe. Also had the chance to do some more specific troubleshooting with a couple of guys who had specific problems. After that we were off to a sake-bar in the evening for some further drink and food. Good times were had by all...
Finally, no post about this conference and the surrounding activities would be complete without a picture of the guys who made it happen, so here it goes. There were a lot of people involved in making this a great conference for the people visiting, and a great trip in general for me, but these were AFAIK the main guys arranging it - Hiroshi Saito and Toshiyuki Ishikawa. So to you, and to all the others who helped out with it, a very big thank you! I've had a great time so far, and I'd certainly love to come back another time
With that, i have a meetup with Michael Glaesemann tonight, and then it's off to the airport tomorrow for one of those lovely way-too-long flights back home. I hope there are no unnecessary delays this time...
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