What is going on at this ETech? We’re in the Hyatt, but it’s downstairs this time. There is no shared space for people to mingle easily. There is a ton of traffic in the area from other conferences. And there are no chairs. Perhaps worse of all is the staff that is just blatantly snotty. Maybe they’re contractors and not O’Reilly staff. I’m not sure. The vibe is different from last year. Case in point: myself and another fellow walked up to a pair of chairs and asked a conference organizer if he minded if we sat in the chairs. His response was a terse: "actually I do mind".

There are dozens of us waiting for the keynote, which starts at 7:30PM (in 24 minutes) and they’ve barred us from the empty room the keynote is taking place. I feel like I’m back in high school and the O’Reilly staff (or contractors thereof) are the yard-nards with illogical rules about which side of the yard or parking lot you can be in. Maybe by tomorrow when the event is in full swing things will be a tad more friendly.