Blogging from Santa Clara

Josh T here. I arrived late last night to SFO for the SD West conference. I'm on the advisory board, and thought I'd share some of the excitement with everyone for the next couple of days.

I was on the flight with presenter Christian Gross, who had flown all the way from Geneva to be here for Monday morning. He almost got bumped off his flight from Europe because everything was backed up after the storm we had out East last weekend, but made it here safely.

So far I only have two complaints. First, why did it take an hour plus to get my bags from the flight? The belt buzzed and started to go around, and two bags were disgorged. We all stood there as the two bags went around twice. Then the belt stopped. Time passed. The belt buzzed again and started going around, but nothing came out. Then it stopped. We had two bags going around in circles, plus a tabletop fan in a tray. Someone checked a loose tabletop fan as baggage.

The belt buzzed again, and five bags came up the conveyor belt, only to stop at the crest. A passenger ended up climbing into the middle of the conveyor to pull the bags down. Buzz, nothing. Buzz, nothing. This continued for over 45 minutes, until finally the luggage came spewing out.

Then I picked up my car. They gave me a complimentary upgrade, so that instead of driving something, well, driveable, I ended up in a Lincoln Town Car. It is like driving the Queen Mary. It's about 20 feet too long, too wide for many of today's slimmer parking spots, and it handles like a bear with a harness on. Big cars are supposed to be safer, but I'm terrified behind the wheel of this thing. I could drive over a Mini and not even notice it. I have to keep checking all sides because I don't have a feel for how far this thing sticks out into the other lanes. I have to swoop left to make a right turn, like a bus driver. I feel like my grandfather behind the wheel of this behemoth.