Having just returned from San Francisco and reading many of the blogs/press on this year’s OSBC, I felt it was a good time to present an unfiltered and honest review (opinion?) of OSBC 2008:

• Great Topics with Great Panels – the show gets better every year. Unfortunately, I missed some of the all-star panels (Mickos, ShuttleWorth, Roberts), but every single panel I attended was full of audience participation, and interesting/educated panelists.
• Good news: Less attorney-blabber. I refuse to attend their panels for fear I’ll be billed $500/hr. to listen to them. This is the mundane sort of task that I already pay our own attorneys for.
• It sure is damn nice to look over a crowded conference hall and be able to see that a large and growing percentage of the marketers in the room are existing LoopFuse customers.
• It sure is damn nice to look over a crowded conference hall and be able to see that a shrinking percentage of the marketers in the room are existing Eloqua customers. (They’re easy to find… just look for the marketers that are broke and pissed off.)
• As usual, Matt Asay’s keynote has a perfect blend of interesting and inspirational.
• I wasn’t around for any of the other keynotes. I would’ve liked to have heard Red Hat’s Whitehurst. As for listening to the HP keynote, I paid my dues while at JBoss… ’nuff said.
• Rob Bearden and Larry Augustin were among my favorite sessions. Perhaps the fact they plugged LoopFuse may have had something to do with it.
• My panel was a solid mix of talent. Sitting next to Ian from Alfresco was an experience. Keeping on topic was a futile effort.
• RingSide Networks launched at the show. I’m still not sure what my ex-Jbossians created, but Bob Bickel is involved and David Skok invested, so it must be good?

Roy’s shout-outs:

• Matt Asay, thanks for spending a whole of 30 seconds with the Loopies.
• Chris Harrick (SugarCRM) – Stand-up and incredibly knowledgeable guy. I think we got off on the wrong foot, but thats how I roll.
• Raven Zachary (451 Group) – thanks for moderating and sharing hair-styling tips, but you’re still wrong on MySQL, Zimbra, and JBoss.
• Dave Rosenberg (MuleSource) & Bill Karpovich (Zenoss) : These guys are dangerous in the same room together – Statler & Waldorf.
• I finally met Javier Soltero (CEO, Hyperic) – He’s probably our #1 fan, one of our most active users, and great at offering unfiltered startup advice. He may also be close to being a bigger smart-ass than I – we’re neck and neck.
• Mark Hinkle (Zenoss) – Good to finally meet him in person. Thanks for the blog.
• The Hypericans – These guys are the official San Francisco welcoming committee. Always a good time.
• Myself (LoopFuse) – I’m proud that I managed to sit through a whole session without insulting anyone in the room (that I know of). This CEO thing is changing me. I refuse to play golf…