Powers Unfiltered

A few months back, when I wrote an abstract for GridWorld 2006 about “Grid Computing in Small and Medium Businesses,” well, suffice it to say that we had a few discussions before the presentation was accepted.  After all, everyone seems to KNOW that there’s no such thing as grid computing in small and medium businesses — everyone, that is, except Digipede and its many SMB customers.

In any case, a bit of gentle pursuasion got the abstract accepted, and I was given the plumb agenda position of — Dead Last, on the last afternoon.  Fine, whatever.

A few weeks back, however, the organizers called with an offer — would I like to trade Dead Last, last afternoon, for 10 AM Tuesday?  What?  Present while people might actually still be attending the conference?  Sure!  I went for it, and yes indeed, my talk is now 10 AM, Tuesday September 12.  Be there!

Now, my mom, dad, grandparents, and various other wise influences all taught me — “when it sounds too goood to be true, it probably is.”  And I don’t know why no alarm bells went off before I accepted this “too good to be true” offer.  But upon further review of the agenda, I’m not the only one with a great time slot.  Indeed, Papa Grid Ian Foster is speaking at the exact same time.  I suppose I can take some solice in the fact that everyone who knows jack about grid computing has already heard Ian speak (probably many times), but the fact remains — I’m up against pretty much the Number One name in grid computing, and I’m speaking on what many consider a pretty damn obscure topic.  Plus — I’ll have to miss Ian’s presentation!  Oh well — reading between the lines, it looks like Dan’s got it covered.

In any case, I’m looking forward to a good event — many grid luminaries, many good presentations, and Digipede will have some new announcements (watch this space).  All I can offer anyone who wants to skip Ian’s presentation is some real-world stories, a description of our recent work for Digipede’s largest non-finance customer, and no-holds-barred Q&A.  See you in DC!