This is the segment where I talk about how PDC went and what I thought of everything tied to it, including but not limited to such factors as my flight here, my hotel stay, the conference itself, the quality of the sessions, etc. in order to give people a feel of what to expect should said people ever decide to come to PDC, for example, next year.
I’m doing this because many people have contacted me during the course of PDC to find out what I would recommend doing in order to get the most out of PDC and other similar events, so I’ll almost definitely put up posts like this after every single major event which I attend.
You can catch the list after the break, though here’s the quick summary:
Virgin America: Overrated.
The Omni Hotel in Downtown Los Angeles: Amazing.
AMD: Awesome, even if afflicted by some minor foibles.
Microsoft: Wonderful with most everything this time around.
The Airline: Virgin America.
My thoughts: Overrated.
There’s a number of problems I experienced with Virgin America, from Customer Service to seating to the entertainment system, among other things. Mind you, the atmosphere was pretty good, and the few things that did work on the entertainment system actually seemed to work pretty well (with the exception of Doom, which ran at a pathetic 3 frames per second, literally). However, that’s basically where the list of good stuff ends. Here’s what went wrong:
- Legroom? Non-existent.
- The “Red” entertainment system is still in beta, and super-hyped features such as cross-seat chatting were not in the build seen on my flight to LA.
- Satellite TV was ridiculously broken. For a flight which had zero clouds above it, this shouldn’t have happened.
- Movies didn’t play.
- Games were boring overall.
- Exit seats charge a premium… why? What if a premium-paying person is too weak to open the exit door?
- Customer service is worth nothing.
There’s an interesting scenario which serves to justify the last point: This couple happened to win four VIP tickets for the Clippers v. Nuggets game Friday night from the venerable Jennifer Ritzinger (runs by the name of Ritzy on Channel9) but the pair only needed two tickets, so they gave me the other two. In effect, I won two VIP tickets.
Unfortunately, the game is Friday night, and my flight is Friday morning. Unlike my experience with The Omni (which I’ll describe after this), Virgin America seems to have a comparatively stubborn policy. I tried to elevate my case, but I was told I was already at the supervisor. After a 7 minute wait, all I get is an unsympathetic late night “supervisor?” So much for that.
Unsympathetic CS reps generally do a company in for me unless they can make up for it through an insane feature offering. Virgin America, quite flatly, didn’t. I hope this changes soon; I’ll probably never again get the chance to hit a sports event as a VIP in my life.
Edit: The second time I called, the other rep (Tony) was much better with describing why they’d be unable to help, but it still got me nowhere, and the logic didn’t make much sense as hotels have to deal with the same things (regarding booking and such).
I’ll almost definitely resume flying with Southwest again for MIX or PDC next year (depending on which one I attend)
The Lodging: The Omni Hotel in Downtown Los Angeles
My thoughts: Amazing.
It all comes down to this: everything was managed beautifully while Sandro and I were away from the room. The 195USD per night price may be steep for people (ironic given how it’s a discounted PDC price), but it’s worthwhole when split with someone else. The room is fairly generic, but it’s the experiences which make things great.
- Room Service actually does a good job without stealing things, which is a first in my experience.
- The shower always has hot water, and the toilet always flushes without messing up (these little details matter)
- The wifi, though it asks for a fee, can easily be obtained for free and runs at speeds of 11/11 MB/s synchronous. The only limits are likely the radios themselves.
- You’re given a chocolate mint before coming back every night, along with a card with the next day’s weather.
- Everything has been clean.
- Customer service is understanding.
To demonstrate the last point: The Omni extended to me a late checkout after seeing my VIP tickets in-hand. The late checkout would normally cost 99USD, but The Omni’s management team did it for free with no hassles. This is supremely unlike my experience with Virgin America’s customer service.
The Hardware Guys: AMD
My Thoughts: Awesome, even if afflicted by some minor foibles.
AMD’s PR guys routinely send me equipment to use, which I return (unlike most of the others who get stuff from them) back to them after the event for which I borrowed… said equipment. This time, after getting invited on very short notice for PDC 2008, AMD still managed to pseudo-sponsor what we stand for and fire a Phenom 9950 and an ATI 4870 my way for the event with overnight shipping the day before/day of my flight. I wasn’t able to use any of it this year, but AMD definitely showed that they care about the communities out there. In the end, the equipment still goes back to them (or you guys, as was the plan after MIX had the GPU in that box not failed), but it’s great to see a company which still cares for the enthusiast community.
The Event: Microsoft
My Thoughts: Wonderful with most everything this time around.
Microsoft is one of those bureaucratic organizations which happens to have limbs which are unaware of what the other limbs are doing. Sometimes, this impacts their products and technologies quite negatively, but then again, PDC 2008 definitely brought a welcome change. This year’s event was far more laid back than previous events I’ve been to; the PR teams (Waggener Edstrom being the primary one) were very accomodating with my requests, even if only such accomodation was present solely in their attempts to answer my questions, and the employees I spoke to were very open with their topics. Shout-outs go to Chaitanya Sareen, Rebecca Deutsch, and Dan Polivy for wonderful interviews on Wednesday, Thursday, and an unknown future date.
No Microsoft event is an event without a generous allotment of parties, and PDC 2008 was no exception. Besides a hefty number of press receptions, there were also many other general receptions for PDC attendees on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. On the other hand, when times got serious, the presenters still knew how to present their topics. All in all, Microsoft did a good job here this week, as did the guys at WaggEd (at least for my causes)
That’s about it in terms of who deserves praise and who deserves less business. We still have two videos and an audio interview coming up over the next week, so be sure to stick around.
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Most exit-row seats have more legroom. Some people go out of their way to get those seats (not you, and not me, but see seatguru.com). Virgin America is just trying to capture incremental revenue.
I get that, but my biggest issue with Virgin was the lack of sympathy. I’m not saying they should be sympathetic (they certainly don’t have to be. They only need to deliver what the customer paid for), but if an opportunity for someone is tossed out the door thanks to a company being unwilling to cooperate… that scores low marks in my book.