Arrived in Washington D.C. for ODTUG Kaleidoscope 2006
June 18th, 2006 by Mark Rittman
I’m over in Washington D.C. now, and staying in the
Wardman Park Hotel in readiness for the
ODTUG Kaleidoscope 2006
conference. Compared to flying over to San Francisco (11+ hours), Nashville (8
hours + another connecting flight) and flying over to Greece with the family
(two kids to keep entertained) the flight was pretty relaxed and
straightforward, especially as I had my new Macbook to watch a couple of movies
on and Eric Sink’s
"The Business of Software" to read.
I must be getting used to coming over to the States (3 times in the last 12
months) as the process of landing and going through the "enhanced" security
seems all pretty run of the mill now, although I was surprised by the
temperature when I stepped outside of the airport doors – it was about 98ºF
/ 37ºC yesterday, and according to the forecasts it’s going to be 100ºF today,
which is just unbelievable – over in the UK, on the hottest day of the year
you’re lucky to get up to 90ºF and on my holiday last week, it was around 70ºF
all week. Of course as you’re indoors all the time you don’t notice it, but I
just never expected the capital of the USA to get so hot in summer – it’s only
just down from New York and you kind of assume it’s got the same climate as
England – colder if anything.
Well it’s just gone 5.30am at the moment, and I’m
just doing a couple of things before heading down to Starbucks in the hotel
lobby for coffee and something to eat. The jetlag didn’t seem as bad yesterday
but I still crashed out around 7pm, hence being up so early today, but I need a
bit of time this morning as I’ve got to rehearse the 15 minute slot I’ve got
during the
BI summit later today. Oracle are "launching" Oracle Warehouse Builder 10gR2
and I’m co-presenting with Oracle’s George Lumpkin, with George talking about
the product and the new packaging (licensing), and myself talking through a
couple of short case studies where our customers have used OWB10gR2 on projects
or evaluations. I’ve got 15 minutes to introduce myself and the company, talk
through the two case studies and do two demos – one on where a retailer used the
new Data Profiler, another where a university used the SCD2+3 support – so
timing is important and I’ll need to go through it a couple of times to make
sure I don’t end up running out of time. Then, just after lunch, is the BI
Customer Advisory Board, an "invite-only" customer panel that Oracle uses to get
feedback on their products, followed by the BI Summit itself, which as I said
will involve the talk I’m getting involved in, plus a presentation on BI Suite
Enterprise Edition. After that I’ll probably grab some dinner and then go up to
my room to practice the XML Publisher presentation I’m giving tomorrow at
11.00am.
Finally, if anyone reading this is familiar with Washington and the
area that the hotel is in, do you know of anywhere local that worth dropping
in to for dinner, breakfast, that sort of thing? I’m on my own over here so I
probably won’t go right into the city, but if there’s somewhere local that’s
good, let me know. Also, on the Thursday, I should have a few hours free for
sightseeing – if you had three hours to spare, where would you go to (I’m
thinking the White House, Lincoln Memorial etc but I’m open to suggestions).
Also – I’d really like to go down to Georgetown – is there much to see/do there,
or is it just houses. Finally – I want to get my two kids presents and also
something for my wife – where’s the good shopping? (I’m thinking a mall or
something, I’ve only got a few hours).
Anyway, down for breakfast soon, then it’s on to preparation for today’s
meetings and presentations. Bye for now.
June 18th, 2006 at 2:17 pm
Hi Mark,
I arrived in Washington on Friday. I’ll probably see you today as I’m also staying at the Wardman Park.
Good luck this afternoon with the BI Summit and later this week with your other presentations.
June 18th, 2006 at 2:23 pm
Hi Wilfred
What time were you up this morning? I was in bed at 7pm last night, so woke up at 4.30am. Still, it’s given me a chance to do some catching up.
I think the Amis guys are over as well, we should at the least go for a beer in the hotel sometime soon. I’ve got stuff on until 7.00pm tonight and may well end up doing something with the CAB members, but how about tomorrow night (Monday)? Just drop me an email on mark@rittman.net or call on +44 7866 568246 if you want to meet up.
cheers
Mark
June 18th, 2006 at 3:23 pm
Mark,
You should be right across the street from Lebanese Taverna, which is pretty good. I’ve also heard that Sake Club is good.
I know it’s hot (FWIW, DC is about the same latitude as Lisbon and it’s always uncomfortably hot and humid in summer), but if you follow Connecticut Ave. south, you end up in Dupont Circle, which has plenty of choices. Teaism, for example. You can also take the metro (red line, can’t miss it).
Georgetown is quaint for American standards, but for you it will look mostly like “houses”. There are, of course, plenty of shops, bars, and restaurants as well. The closest metro stops are Dupont Circle and Foggy Bottom. You’ll be in for a bit of a walk in this heat.
If you only have a few hours for shopping and want the convenience of a mall, Pentagon City is about a 30 minute metro ride.
June 18th, 2006 at 3:49 pm
Hey Mark,
Outside the back of the hotel (next to the metro) is a place called Murphy’s of DC. I think a couple of us are getting together there on Tuesday evening. They have a happy hour from 4-8 everyday.
Matt
June 18th, 2006 at 4:51 pm
Mark,
Welcome to Washington!
There’s a ton of places to see just outside of the Hotel. The National Zoo is just a few blocks north up Connecticut Ave – definitely worth checking out, although if it’s going to be as hot today as they say, you may want to wait until later in the week.
My favorite place to tell out-of-towners to visit is the Old Post Office Pavilion on Penn Ave, just past the White House. The Tower there offers the 2nd best view in the city with typically not more than a moments wait for the left. While the Washington Monument is much taller, the lines are much longer, and I believe that you need a ticket/reservation. If you don’t know someone in the Bush Administration or have reservations, forget the White House. :)
Georgetown is worth checking out as well. It’s much more than houses – plenty of shopping, hotels, shops, restaurants, etc. The Waterfront is really nice as well – just south of Georgetown and always very pretty this time of year. You will need to cab it from the hotel. DC Cabs do not have meters – you kinda negotiate your fare up front. And as sad as it is, cabbies will smell tourists and price the ride accordingly. From the Marriott to G-Town should be no more than $10 or so. If they say anything else, simply don’t get in and wait for the next one. :)
If you’re up for a bit of a walk, Adams-Morgan is about a mile to the east of the hotel. You can also take a shullte from the Woodley Park Metro. There, you’ll find a wide variety of ethnic restaurants & bars. My old haunt, Toledeo Lounge, is a decent place to grab a beer and people-watch.
There’s a new bus service called the DC Circulator. (http://www.dccirculator.com/home_page/) This service is only $1 and was designed to move tourists around downtown. It will take you to the Mall (the National one, where there are no stores), the Smithsonians, Georgetown, and Union Station.
There’s a small mall (by US standards) at both Geogretown & Union Station for shopping, but I’d encourage you to check out the countless other places. You can get a cheap T-Shirt & other memoriabilia on the sides on the National Mall from a street vendor, or you can pay a little more at the hotel.
I’ll be heading down to help kick off the BI Summit this afternoon – maybe I’ll see you at the Reception tonight! I’m anxious to hear about your experience with the MacBook, as I am only a couple of days away from getting one for myself.
Thanks,
- Scott -
June 18th, 2006 at 5:09 pm
Hi Mark,
We already met during breakfast and we’re on for monday evening with the Amis guys.
June 18th, 2006 at 6:13 pm
Hi Mark,
I arrived on Friday and am staying in the same hotel too ;-)
My first night was terrible (there’s a 6h difference compared to Belgium)
I visited some things yesterday, I uploaded the pictures on google picasa, the link is on my blog.
Hope to meet you soon!
Dimitri
June 19th, 2006 at 11:51 am
Scott, Sergio, thanks for the tips. Right now, on Thursday I think I’ll get the metro down to the National Mall, and then visit the Lincoln Memorial, White House etc, finally going to the Old Post Office Pavillion as Scott suggested to get some photos. Looks like the Pentagon City mall is the best for doing the shopping, then I’ll go back over to Georgetown for late afternoon/early evening to get something to eat. Should be good.
cheers
Mark
June 19th, 2006 at 11:52 am
Matt – that sounds like a good idea (Tuesday night, Murphy’s of DC). I’ll try and catch up with you beforehand and confirm it.
June 19th, 2006 at 11:54 am
Wilfred, Dimitri
Wilfred – we might last night again, as we agreed let’s go out tonight with Lucas etc.
Dimitri – do you want to come along? I should be finished up around 7pm tonight, perhaps we can all meet up in the hotel bar or something around 7.30ish?
June 19th, 2006 at 5:17 pm
ok for me!
I also told to Scott, maybe he will join us too… (he knows a restaurant with excellent sea food, if you’re interested)
Sergio are you comming too? The Dutch aren’t playing, but it should be a lot of fun ;-))
See you tonight,
Dimitri