Crowds were much better than Chicago. Set up was much easier than Chicago. We like it so much better -- especially since it is our hometown and we can sleep in our own beds.

The opening reception was very lame. They ran out of food, and eventually alcohol. Personally I think HIMSS should skip this function and discount our booth costs by 10%.

Believe it or not people THERE IS A SKY BRIDGE connecting halls B and C. You go UP and then back down the escalators inside the halls. It makes getting from one to the other very quick. There are some AWESOME vendors in C hall (Like Us -- 1106!) so make the time to find the short cut. C hall is much more open -- none of the GIANT vendor booths to contend with.

Great informational meeting and reception at Oracle. We left there very geeked up on all the products Oracle owns now. We can’t wait to explore everything they have to offer -- they are not even sure what all is in their playbook! Pretty cool, though, since they have acquired Sun and we are a Glassfish shop.

Terrific party by CTG at the Social Wine Bar. It was really great seeing old friends and making some new ones. CTG may not have a booth this year but they are still a force in their own right.

All in all, it was a great start to the show. We had several old friends come by the booth and it was really nice catching up. If you are one of my few readers and you are at the show, try to stop by. If you tell me you read my blog entry, I will give you a Starbucks Gift card that you can take right outside the hall doors by our booth and cash in! Seriously!

Also you have to check out LegacyPong. Last year we had a real, authentic Pong player and tv. Just to show how smart we are taking legacy applications into new technology, we have a new, updated, slick version we call LegacyPong! Just for fun...

More tomorrow….