Disclaimer: I recently attended Storage Field Day 8.  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.

My full disclosure post will never reach the heady heights of Justin’s, all I can do is try and get somewhere near that level. Here are my notes on gifts, etc, that I received as a delegate at Storage Field Day 8. I’d like to point out that I’m not trying to play presenters / 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 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. While every delegate’s situation is different, I’d also like to clarify that I took 2 days of vacation time and 3 days of training / work time to be at this event.

Saturday

I left my house Saturday morning at 4am and travelled BNE -> SYD -> SFO. I paid for my own cab to the airport in Brisbane, with the transfer in Sydney covered by my ticket. A period of time passed and I was given “dinner” and “breakfast”. This was included in the price of the ticket (paid for by Tech Field Day). Alcoholic beverages were not included, but I stuck with water. United wanted to sell me snacks at some stage too, but I politely declined. I had a spare seat next to me and the opportunity to watch “Office Space” for the umpteenth time on the tiny screen, so it wasn’t all bad.

Tuesday

On Tuesday night we had the delegate dinner at Antonella’s Ristorante in San Jose. It’s a nice Italian place. I had a bit of everything. As part of the gift exchange I received a pair of socks and some very nice beef jerky. I also had two Modelos and a Montejo at the hotel bar after dinner. Claire gave us all a bag of snacks when we got to the hotel. I particularly enjoyed the cashews and Reese’s things.

Wednesday

We had breakfast at Mikayla’s. I had a breakfast roll. Coho Data provided us with doughnuts with bacon on top. While you can put bacon on all kinds of things, sometimes it’s best if you don’t. They also gave each of us a Coho-flavoured Raspberry Pi 2. We had lunch at Pure Storage provided by DishDash. They also gave us some brightly-coloured socks and a 8GB USB stick. Cohesity  provided us with a Hawaiian-themed food and beverages, including Mai Tais. This may or may not have been a mistake given the feistiness of some of the delegates during the ensuing session. They also gave us customised Amazon Echo devices. I gave mine to Claire as it wouldn’t work in Australia. We also received a Cohesity sleeveless fleece top – arguably these don’t work in Australia either, as it doesn’t get that cold where I live :). We had a social event at the Hotel Valencia on Santana Row. I had some sliders and a few Heinekens. I then went to the bar at the hotel and had a Fat Tire before retiring for the night.

Thursday

We had a buffet breakfast at the hotel. I had some bacon and eggs and fruit. Qumulo provided us with a Qumulo-branded notepad. We had a Californian BBQ-style lunch at the hotel. After a few more sessions, we then had dinner at Picasso’s in downtown San Jose. It was a tapas place, so I had a bit of everything. And two glasses of Sangria. I then had a Fat Tire at the hotel bar upon our return.

Friday

On Friday morning we had breakfast at Violin Memory. I had a breakfast burrito and coffee (I loves me some Mexican in the morning). They also gave us a T-shirt, stubbie holder, bottle opener, mints and toothpicks. Intel provided us with a nice buffet lunch at the Intel HQ Executive Briefing Centre. Nimble Storage gave us each a small tote bag, a webcam privacy screen, some headphones and a travel set. This was followed by “Happy Hour” at Nimble. I had a sparkling water. To finish off we had dinner at Mexicali in Santa Clara. I had a prawn burrito. I didn’t eat anything on the flight home.

Conclusion

I’d like to extend my thanks once again to the Storage Field Day organisers and the companies presenting at the event. I had an extremely enjoyable and educational time. Here’s a photo.