Disclaimer: I recently attended Storage Field Day 17. My flights, accommodation and other expenses were paid for by Tech Field Day. There is no requirement for me to blog about any of the content presented and I am not compensated in any way for my time at the event. Some materials presented were discussed under NDA and don’t form part of my blog posts, but could influence future discussions.
Here are my notes on gifts, etc, that I received as a delegate at Storage Field Day 17. I’d like to point out that I’m not trying to play companies off against each other. I don’t have feelings one way or another about receiving gifts at these events (although I generally prefer small things I can fit in my suitcase). Rather, I’m just trying to make it clear what I received during this event to ensure that we’re all on the same page as far as what I’m being influenced by. Some presenters didn’t provide any gifts as part of their session – which is totally fine. I’m going to do this in chronological order, as that was the easiest way for me to take notes during the week. Whilst every delegate’s situation is different, I took 5 days of unpaid leave to be at this event.
Saturday
I took one of those “ride-sharing” services (that seem awfully similar to taxis) to the airport. I have some status with Qantas so I get a little bit of special treatment and lounge access. In Sydney I had some cheese and crackers and a couple of Coopers Original Pale Ales in the lounge. I flew BNE – SYD – SFO, and paid for my own upgrade to Premium Economy for the SYD – SFO leg of the trip. It was very nice to be at the front, rather than the back, of the plane for a change.
Tuesday
I dropped in at Georgiana Comsa‘s house for a coffee, and we then had lunch at Una Mas Mexican Grill prior to meeting with a vendor. I had the Foghead chicken and bacon burrito, with home-made BBQ sauce, cheese, guacamole, sour cream, black beans, rice and Corn Salsa in a tomato tortilla along with an Agua Fresca. This was paid for by Georgiana. After our meeting Georgiana very kindly dropped me off at Mountain View, saving me the hassle of getting a Caltrain there.
I then met up with Craig Waters at the Pure Storage office in Mountain View. I had a few Modelo Especial beers while we caught up. We then went to QBB for dinner. I had a pulled pork sandwich, pickles, potato salad, and a Kölsch beer. It seems like this would be the place to go if you’re into bourbon too. We followed this up with a cheeky brew at Bierhaus. I had a Paulaner Hefe-Weißbier. I then took a ride sharing service back to Menlo Park. This was all covered by Pure Storage. It was great to catch up with Craig again as it had been a while.
Wednesday
While waiting for the other delegates to join us for dinner I had 2 Modelo Negra beers at the hotel bar with Howard Marks. I paid for these myself. When everyone turned up I had another Modelo, paid for by Tech Field Day. We had dinner at Spencer’s for Steaks and Chops at the hotel. I had some prawns and cheese and crackers prior to the main. Howard picked out a nice chianti to accompany the meal. I had a wedge salad with cranberries, blue cheese, candied pecans, bacon, apples and balsamic vinaigrette. For the main I had a 14oz USDA prime boneless ribeye with asparagus and potato mousseline. This was followed up by praline cake for dessert. I was feeling pretty full by this stage, but, hoping to ensure I got a poor night’s sleep, I had one more Modelo in the hotel bar before bed.
I was also lucky enough to score two signed George R. R. Martin books as part of the Yankee gift swap we did. Well, I hunted them down, as Howard had hinted he’d be bringing something like that along as a gift. Ben from Tech Field Day also gave each delegate a gift bag of various snacks, etc. I left most of these in my room when I left, but I did take the bag with me, as it had a Minion riding a unicorn on it, and this seemed like something I’d want to take grocery shopping.
Thursday
We had breakfast at the hotel on Thursday morning. This was buffet-style affair and I had bacon, scrambled eggs, sausage, fruit and strawberry yoghurt, along with some orange juice and coffee. We were all given a Gestalt IT clear bag with a few bits and pieces in it. Stephen also gave us a 3D-printed SFD17 souvenir. I’ll leave you to work out what it is.
Komprise gave each delegate a sticker and pen.
We had lunch at the hotel. It was Mexican style. I had salmon, lettuce, a chipotle chicken fajita, guacamole, sour cream and whole pinto beans in a flour tortilla, a cheese enchilada, some iced tea, and a Mexican chocolate caramel bite.
For dinner we went to Loft Bar and Bistro. I had some crispy calamari, tomato and fresh mozzarella salad, Chinese chicken salad, pesto salmon and grilled bistro filet. I also had 4 805 beers.
I followed this up with a Modelo at the hotel bar before retiring for the evening.
Friday
We had breakfast at Mikayla’s. I’ve been here before and really like it. I had the supreme breakfast wrap with bacon, freshly squeezed orange juice and coffee. I had some water during the Intel session. Intel also gave each delegate an Intel SPDK carry bag and Optane socks. Lunch at Intel was from Dish n’ Dash. I had a beef shawarma wrap and some water.
NGD Systems gave each of us a USB fan (something like this), a cap, sticker, and webcam cover (I don’t have that many webcams, but maybe one day). I had 3 Modelo Negra beers at the hotel before we headed out to dinner at Mexicali Grill. I decided to play it safe this time and didn’t load up with a jumbo shrimp burrito prior to a 14-hour flight. Instead I had the Camarones Cancun and a Modelo beer, along with some guacamole.
Stephen and Ben dropped me at SFO. I had 2 Heinekens and some crackers and cheese in the Cathay Pacific lounge (yay status!). All in all, it was a great trip. Thanks again to Tech Field Day for having me, thanks to the other delegates for being super nice and smart, and thanks to the presenters for some educational and engaging sessions.