After a nice relaxing flight from Toronto (I was very satisfied with Air Canada) I arrived in Las Vegas. A short cab ride got me to the hotel and was in my room in less that 45 minutes. The Mandalay Bay is as inviting as ever and the long walk to the conference facilities seems shorter each time I come to CA World. As soon as you start the walk past the Starbucks (without a line up...strange), you notice the large CA World 2014 banner across the top of the hallway. I knew I was in the right place.
The first thing that struck me was the amount of CA World staff eager to help me. They quickly directed me to the second floor registration area. This open area has a number of very friendly CA World staff with tablets that print out your badge as you register. In the past the badges were pre-printed, this year seems to be a much 'greener' CA World. No pre-printed agendas, no backpacks, no glossies, just a badge and a notification on how to download the CA World 2014 app on the back of your badge. I liked it. Less to tote around and in the end much less paper will end up in the garbage. An eco-friendly CA World. I like it. This is the first major difference, and I personally like it.
The CA World application was easy to download, but I had difficulties getting it to run. A trip to the mobile app help desk had me up and running in no time. Unfortunately if you are like me and travel with multiple devices I have to visit the mobile app help desk for each device. While the app is designed for a mobile phone, age has taken a toll on my eyesight, so a tablet is a must for me to easily read my agenda, or I have to keep popping my glasses on and off (hmmm, bifocals might be necessary). The app is awesome and has your agenda, ability to take notes, send messages, and much much more. Speaking with Sam Creek last evening, he was very impressed with the app development team. Often he was told to refresh his app even before he got off the phone asking for a change to the app. The only thing I dislike about the app is that at times it can be a bit sluggish, but anything web based can suffer performance issues due to multiple reasons.
Today (Monday) we have the keynote address and I will blog later to cover todays events. I am also going to try a video blog with a GoPro camera.
If you are not here, you still have time to come to CA World 2014