About
My last Tech Mentor Conference for the ABA!
The ABA has been really great about sending employees to training conferences and with the newly opened Universal Epic Universe this seems a good year to go. It also doesn't hurt when your girlfriend's conference gets combined with yours so you both get to go together.
The Conference
The conference is called "TechMentor" but when they hold it in Orlando FL, they rebrand it as "Live! 360 Tech Con" and combine it with 6 other conferences for one massive combined conference. For me TechMentor covered my side with infrastructure topics and for Laura the "Data Platform Live!" group had all things database for her.
They were pushing AI everything. I know it's the hot topic, but some variation would be nice and some of the talks really seemed like AI was just shoehorned in.
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Harry Potter
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter never gets old, so an evening trip to Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley were mandatory. This is still some of the best word building and theming I've ever seen and it's a must do if you like these kind of things. Also, go at night.
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Epic Universe
The newest amusement park from Universal Resorts. It's epic, but with epic prices and crowds as well.
We only had one day at the park so "Fast Pass" Tickets were a must if we wanted to see everything. Unfortunately Universal seems to know this as well. The per person ticket prices were $140 each with an additional $362 for the Fast Pass. That is mighty steep for a single day but there is just no way you could see all the attractions without it. There were multiple rides with 1-2 hour waits. We closed down the park and it was a long day, but we did see everything. Also, like most amusement parks things clear up the last hour or so. What was an hour wait (without Fast Pass) for the Mario ride, was a walk on the last 30 minutes.
Was it worth it? Yep. It's the state of the art in amusement parks and I love amusement parks. The size of the room they built for the Ministry of Magic is not done justice by the pictures. It's huge and makes you feel like you walked right into the movie. The ride Monsters Unchained shows what they can do with the tech from the Harry Potter Castle ride 15 years later. And a shout out to the Atlantic Restaurant. OMG that was great food in a wonderful atmosphere.
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Misc
What's better than free travel from work? Free travel from work and getting to see old friends. Look who I found hiding down here in Orland away from the cold north. Nancy and Mike!
And some random pictures that didn't have any other place to go.
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