Several things to think about in the next 10 days leading up to Kaleidoscope.
1. The Marriott Wardman Park is out of rooms. If you’re attending and haven’t reserved a room yet, you may get lucky with a cancellation, but there are several hotels on the Metro line that should have openings. The conference and location is very popular, and while I wish we could accommodate everyone, it’s not going to be possible. Here’s a good suggestion: when next year’s conference dates and location are announced, register and reserve your room as soon as possible (hint – these announcements will be made at our general session on Monday, June 28 starting at 8:30 AM).
2. The Java Bus is coming! Monday afternoon/evening, June 28, the Java “Code to Coast” Road Trip will be making a stop at ODTUG Kaleidoscope. This is an added bonus for conference attendees to experience Oracle’s commitment to the Java community. However, this event is also open to ANYONE in the local Java Community. I hope that many Java community members in the DC area come out for the evening of fun, food, drinks, and networking.
3. Social Networking will once again be big. ODTUG is happy to have people use Twitter to spread the news about Kaleidoscope. If you are new to Twitter, we’ve put up a document on our website on how to get started. Our conference hashtag will be #odtug. Each presentation has its own ID, and Tweets about specific session can be done using #odtugSnnn (where nnn = Session ID). If you search Twitter for #odtug, you will be able to see Tweets about the conference and these individual sessions. We should have a couple of display monitors onsite to view the Tweets as they come in. Several people unable to attend last year got a lot out of the interactions possible with those attending ODTUG Kaleidoscope. It’s not just for those of you already in attendance.
If you are a blogger, let us know if you will be blogging about Kaleidoscope. We’d like to see what everyone has to say!
Foursquare may also be in use at the conference. Look for other users of Foursquare, become the mayor of a room, let us know where you’re at. DC is a great place to explore, and Foursquare is a great way to enhance your experience.
Have fun with all of the social networking in use at the conference. If you’re using something that you think is really cool and we may not know about, let us know. We’re interested in participating as well.
4. The MySQL track looks excellent. A new article was posted here on the O’Reilly Community page about the track. Check out some of the sessions if you’re already registered, and if you haven’t registered, there is still time to be a part of the greatest developer conference around. We’re happy to welcome the MySQL community to Kaleidoscope, and look forward to a long future together.
That’s it for today. If you’re going to the conference, be involved and be active. It is the best way to get the most out of the conference.
ODTUG Blog 
Just want to reiterate that folks should wear their favorite soccer jersey!!
Oh, and be sure to pack your rock and roll garb for Sunday night’s Welcome Reception.
Five days and counting ! ! ! !