Things I learned at the Nashville Geek Breakfast
Another overflow crowd gathered at Noshville Thursday for the January Nashville Geek Breakfast. Here are a few things I didn’t know before I darkened the door yesterday morning:
- Kate’s employer, Sitening, has a nice new office on 21st Avenue. She’s settling in after a busy first few months there. (I dig the robot, by the way, Siteningites.)
- Justin and others think Facebook and other social media sites may turn to premium paid features to finally turn a profit. I’m starting to agree and curious to see how this trend evolves. Clearly most of us are ignoring Facebook ads.
- You, too, can play ping pong against robots. Sharon Cole told me that last month, but this time I found the right Web site for her new entrepreneurial venture. I also learned that Sharon wrote programs for BellSouth back in the day that helped the communications giant automate tasks such as bill inquiries and non-payment service cancellations.
- Some companies continue to use antiquated programming languages such as COBOL, not to be confused with Battlestar Galactica’s Kobol, and Fortran. I’d heard of them but generally equated them with Pong and Combat. (I have fond memories of Combat. Don’t get me wrong.) It can be really tough for large corporations to migrate to new technologies once they’ve depended on aging platforms.
- John Cole, husband to Sharon, is one of Paul’s neighbors in Pegram. All of us found that out yesterday.
- Did you aspire to travel the galaxy as a child? Now’s your chance: You, too, can become a space cadet just like Paul.
- Dave Beronja makes sure that CMT stays cool online. (OK, I first learned that at BarCamp, but it’s still worth mentioning.)
- Andy had as much trouble finding a place to park as the rest of us when arriving after 7:30 (or 7:15, for that matter). Kate’s secret: Suck it up and feed the parking meter. Seventy-five cents goes a long way when it means more face time inside.
- Dave Delaney agrees that we are outgrowing our beloved home at Nashville, but like me, he’s at a loss so far for a good alternative. Any ideas out there? Dave’s also yet another smart TV viewer who’s beaten me to the punch in watching MadMen. I have to get around to that sooner or later.
- Aside from being huge in South Africa and Tennessee, Geek Breakfast is expanding to Seattle. Welcome, Emerald City!
If you haven’t yet found your way to a Geek Breakfast, you’re missing a lot of fun. Hope to see you next time!
January 23rd, 2009 at 9:11 am
How about the Farmer’s Market foodcourt?
Lots of seating. Open early. Variety of food options. Close to downtown. Lots of parking.
Of course I still vote for a Geek Lunch, not just a Geek Breakfast…
January 23rd, 2009 at 10:01 am
As a longtime Cobol and RPG guy, I can tell you that for a lot of companies, there are just no compelling reasons to abandon those languages. If you’ve got a reasonably steady application, and experienced personnel supporting it, there’s just no business case for swapping that out for a modern technology platform.
Even if you find a better app that requires such a tech shift, there is the additional headwind of retraining staff and migrating them to the “new way” as well, which can be extremely difficult.
January 23rd, 2009 at 10:02 am
Thanks for the recap Rob. I always love reading this!
January 23rd, 2009 at 10:24 am
Paul, that’s a great suggestion about Farmer’s Market. We need to explore that.
Thanks, Dirk. I’ll confess that I know nearly nothing about COBOL or Fortran. I’m glad they’re still useful, and I definitely get the challenges of migrating to new technologies. That can’t be easy when you’ve invested a ton in existing solutions. Now if you want to talk about Kobol, I have a little more knowledge there…
You’re welcome, Dave. Glad to hear it!
January 23rd, 2009 at 8:30 pm
[...] usual Rob Robinson has a great break down of how his breakfast went. I’m certain it was completely different at [...]