Lonneke talked about our experiences and the middleware content at the
Oracle User Group Norway (OUGN) Vårseminar 2013 conference in her last blog. This blog adds some photos to give you an impression of this unique "Conference as/on a Cruise".
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Conference badge |
Just before we left for Oslo, we found out that Justin Bieber was performing there in the same week that Vårseminar was held. Since the first day of the conference was ashore, we needed a hotel. Problem was that all the Beliebers and their entourage of concerned parents already booked all hotel rooms in the city. Fortunately there were some free rooms in a hotel in a smaller village nearby Oslo.
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On our way to the hotel outside Oslo |
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Surroundings of the hotel, still snowy and icy in Norway |
After the first day all attendees boarded the Color Line to continue the conference on the ferry from Oslo to Kiel in Germany. You can view the route we travelled on
Markus Eisele's blog.
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Waiting to board the Color Line |
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Cabin on board of the Color Line |
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Cabin on board of the Color Line |
After boarding and several keynote speeches, the separate tracks started on the top deck including the middleware track. So far Norwegian was pretty readable. Words were recognizable since they looked like their Dutch or English counterparts. The Norwegian keynotes and Norwegian stand-up taught us that reading is one thing, but speaking and listening is completely different and unable to follow for Dutch people. The laughter was pretty infectuous though.
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Lonneke Dikmans presenting on deployment best practices |
Until that time the big ferry gently rocked and only added to the relaxed atmosphere. However, by the end of the day the Baltic Sea became so rocky that the presenters had to sit down to avoid falling down during their speeches.
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Rocky sea |
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Rocky sea |
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Precautions for a rocky sea |
Luckily I had no problems sleeping that night and didn't need a paper bag. On the second day of the cruise we arrived in Kiel. Between sessions there was time to leave the ferry and indulge in a German lunch. At least, if you weren't feeling to seasick.
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Arriving in Kiel |
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Healthy German lunch |
After boarding we set sail for Oslo again and continued with the conference sessions. Between sessions you could enjoy the amenities of the ferry.
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Color Line promenade |
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Color Line promenade |
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One of the reastaurants on the Color Line |
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One of the reastaurants on the Color Line |
Saterday we arrived back in Oslo and departed the Color Line to fly back home after a fun and successful conference. It took some days before the sea legs completely vanished.
A big thanks to the conference and user group board who put together a well-organized and unique conference! Thanks for having us.