Disclaimer: I recently attended Tech Field Day 19.  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 conference attendee at Tech Field Day 19. This is by no stretch an interesting post from a technical perspective, but it’s a way for me to track and publicly disclose what I get and how it looks when I write about various things. I’m going to do this in chronological order, as that was the easiest way for me to take notes during the week.

Sunday

My wife kindly dropped me at the domestic airport so I could make my way from BNE to SFO via SYD. I had ham and cheese in the Qantas Club before my flight. I flew Qantas economy class to SFO. The flights were paid for by Tech Field Day. Plane food was consumed on the flight. It was a generally good experience, lack of sleep notwithstanding. I stayed at the Plaza Suites Hotel. This was covered by Tech Field Day as well. I made my way to a friend’s house to spend some time before the event.

On Sunday evening I was fortunate to have dinner at Georgiana Comsa’s house with her and some friends. I’m always appreciative of good food and good conversation, and it was great to spend some time with them (jet lag notwithstanding).

Tuesday

On Tuesday I arrived at the hotel in the afternoon and was provided with a bag of various snacks by the Tech Field Day team. I had 3 Firestone Lager beers at the hotel bar. We had dinner at the hotel, consisting of:

• Panzanella, with plums, cucumber, nduja vinaigrette, burrata, and brioche
• Gazpacho, with shoyu-marinated heirloom tomatoes, and avocado creme fraiche
• Artichokes, consisting of Monterey grilled artichoke halves, and mint-chutney mayo
• Bavette, with 100% grass-fed beed from Marin Sun Farms, and pistachio leek chimichurri
• Chicken, with mixed nut puree, summer squash, and harissa
• Asparagus, à la plancha, with Romesco sauce
• Homemade gelato, in some kind of banana and miso flavour.

I also had a Firestone lager and some pinot noir. It was all very delicious. I received a very cool wooden sign from Alastair Cooke as part of the Yankee gift swap. Emre also gave each of us some real Turkish Delight.

Wednesday

Wednesday morning was breakfast at the hotel, consisting of scrambled eggs, sausage, pancake, bacon, and coffee. During the pre-TFD delegate meeting, I was given some OpenTechCast, VirtualBonzo.com, and TFD stickers.

During the Ixia session I had a coffee. At NetApp I had 2 still spring waters. Lunch at NetApp was an antioxidant salad with feta cheese and pomegranate vinaigrette, braised short ribs with chilli citrus marinade, grilled salmon with feta and olive, and grilled asparagus. I also had a chocolate chip cookie after lunch. We had the dinner / reception at Faz Restaurant in San Jose. There was a variety of finger food on offer, including Mediterranean Bruschetta, black sesame encrusted Ahi Tuna with wasabi, vegetarian spring rolls with teriyaki dipping sauce, crab cakes with chipotle aioli, and fire-roasted beef mini-kabobs. I had 3 Modelo Especial beers, and 2 Firestone lagers at the hotel.

Thursday

Thursday morning was breakfast at the hotel, consisting of scrambled eggs, sausage, pancake, bacon, and coffee. At Automation Anywhere I grabbed a bottle of water before our session. Automation Anywhere also provided us with lunch from Dish Dash. I had a chicken shawarma wrap, tabouli, leafy salad, rice, falafel, and water. They also gave us a branded water container and phone pop socket.

At Druva we were given some personalised gifts by W. Curtis Preston. This was the first time I’ve had a particular tweet about a dream become a reality.

Thanks Curtis! (and thanks for signing my copy of your book too!)

We were also each given a Holy Stone HS160 drone and personalised coffee mug. I really like when sponsors take the time to find out a little more about each of the delegates. After the session we wandered over to Philz Coffee. I had a large iced Mocha Tesora with dark chocolate, caramel, and cocoa. For dinner we went to River Rock Taproom. I had 2 Russian River Brewing STS Pils beers from the tap (there are about 40 different beers to choose from). We also had a variety of snacks, including:

• Bruschetta, with tomatoes, herbs, onions, garlic, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, parmesan cheese on toasted baguette slices
• Sliders, consisting of creamy habanero beef with caramelised onions and cheddar cheese
• Garlic French Fries
• Buffalo wings and creamy habanero
• Popcorn shrimp served with orange chilli garlic
• Candied bacon with caramelised steakhouse bacon served on toasted bread

By that stage jet lag had really caught up with me, so I retired to my room for an early night.

Friday

Friday morning was breakfast at the hotel, consisting of scrambled eggs, sausage, pancake, bacon, and coffee. At the VMware office I had a coffee, and picked up a vROps ninja sticker, Indy VMUG sticker, and VMware Cloud Assembly sticker and key ring. We had lunch at VMware. It was Mexican, and I had a tortilla, rice, refried beans, grated cheese, guacamole, sour cream and salsa, and some water.

At the finish of proceedings some delegates made their way to the airport, and the rest of us hung around for one last dinner together. I had a Firestone lager at the hotel. We then walked to Faultline Brewing Company for dinner. I had 2 Kolsch beers, and the Brewhouse Bacon Cheeseburger, consisting of an 8 oz. Angus beef patty, sharp cheddar cheese, applewood-smoked bacon, lettuce, tomatoes, red onion, roasted garlic aioli , a brioche bun, and kettle chips. I then had 3 Firestone lagers at the hotel bar.

Saturday

I was staying a little longer in the Bay Area, so on Saturday morning I had breakfast at the hotel, consisting of scrambled eggs, sausage, pancake, bacon, and coffee. I then took a car to a friend’s house in the Bay Area, courtesy of Tech Field Day. It was a great week. Thanks again to the Tech Field Day team for having me, thanks to the other delegates for being super nice and smart, and thanks to the presenters for some really educational and engaging sessions.