So I went to Devcon Europe ...

[Superfly_FR]

This was my first "convention" with RIM. I must say I was pretty excited about it, and setting this up was not that easy, since I had to leave work (SOHO here) & family to meet @ Amsterdam (side view : and also spend around € 400, minored by the free PB).
[First post about the General session. doing this by heart, it's quite long and I may talk about sessions later]

Wake up 5:00 AM - Train (I was late-running like ... kuf-kuf: I must quit smoking !) - Arrival (a bit late) - Registration (easy; nice smile miss ) - Main event : CEO on stage.
- Looking around : where are the PBs and BB Phones ? I see HTC, Iphones, Ipads ...
Dammit guys, show your involvement !
Heins is quiet, almost smiling, tone is right, speech a little slow and over-controlled.
Isn't that the exact same thing I viewed on Devcon Americas videos ?
Promotion, "facts", demos ...
The PIM "flow": *wow: you got it*
Remote demo ... *hugh* ... c'mon guys ... bite my lips thinking "you went too far: stop/start BT !" when I see the demo guy going out of BT range to take the picture.

There comes Saunders. The guy looks definitively more enthusiastic (maybe a pinch too much ?) camel jacket and red T-shirt "Keep calm & Be bold" (needs a stylist here for fitting colors & patterns : don't improvise); (positive) laughs, applauses ...
Jam (why the h*ll is France in red on this map ?), New web site (nice and needed move), demos (QT), community, AppWorld, Busting, QNX-OS2 ...
wow, rich content ... well done, he did the job.

Time for Christopher Smith :
"[like Thorsen said before] we're on the midst of the most ambitious global launch of new products we've ever undertaken" : hey, who's that guy ? Looks smart, speaks accurate ... give this guy more audience !
Demos
Demonstrative and successful demos (1 slight controlled drift, no matter), well balanced to both devs and overall audience
Brilliant job. Great ending.

Lunch time
I'm staaaaarving; mhhh nice: good and generous, good point !
Still, I'm a bit alone, trying to tweet #devcon "meet me" (sounds desperate, I know lol) or ear any French conversation ... I wish there was somehow meeting points by regions or countries. Why the h*ll was France in red on the map (and access to beta program unauthorized on website) ?
VIPs are not surfing the crowd, probably in the separate press lounge (show your evangelists, spread the enthusiasm, do press calls later !). Yes, seeking for Kevin ... no luck, he's hardcore blogging (lucky CB readers) in a bunker !
Next time I won't come alone ...

That's it for part 1, scratch.

[lotuslanderz]

Nice summary! BTW, watching the live feed on-line, I got the same sense as you regarding Heins and Alex and Chris Smith. They really should use Smith more often.

[world traveler and former ceo]

thanks for the post!

[bbqkid8]

Sounds like an exciting time. I would have been a lone wolf there too!

[Superfly_FR]

[Part 2]
Also, I had the pleasure to see Kevin in action during the panel "Working with bloggers and media". It was app promotion oriented, of course. So that I refrained myself to ask "how to identify marketed negative media campaigns" for instance :-)
You'll find bellow about 30 minutes of his talk.

Note: these vids are scratch &uncut, captured live with my PB (I wish I could have charged it more ... but it was in intensive use there ... sorry for the 30 minutes only).