One of the things I decided to do at Lotusphere is put in a weekly blog that focuses on Lotus Symphony. They will cover Lotus Symphony news, technical tutorials, and other info. I will not be rehashing news you might find elsewhere, but I will include some links at the bottom of entries. I have the following as topics for the next couple months: Lotus Symphony road map Lotus Symphony Tutorials - UNO via LotusScript Lotus Symphony Tutorials - UNO via Java Lotus Symphony Tutorials - LotusScript API via LSX Lotus Symphony Tutorials - Addins (sidebar, menu, toolbar) Lotus Symphony Tutorials - Composite Applications Lotus Symphony Tutorials - ODF Training Deployment Migration Document Conversion Available Applications Migrating Office Addins to Lotus Symphony Template conversion and management I have a few other items I want to cover as well. Of course, if you have some ideas or suggestions, please leave a comment here. To kick this off, I want to go back and cover the Lotus Symphony ro

As I sit here back in Chicago, dealing with the exceptional cold weather we are having , I am still reflecting on Lotusphere2009. What an amazing time in Orlando this year. We can all find things that could have been better, but can anyone really complain about the conference? Nitpicking aside (and I give Bob and Ed both major credit from bringing the issue of the wireless network to the forefront, not hiding behind it) I think everyone had an energizing week. For me, I personally over extended myself in 2009. 4 sessions (OK 3, but one of those is a repeat of the Jumpstart - and Alex and I had to do one version in 90 minutes and another in 120) and lots of new content. I got to do a major preview of the Lotus Symphony LSX for LotusScript in my session. I had a great conversation in my session "The Document Format Dance" and really brought out this idea of Application Automation vs. Document Generation. I was also part of the first Lotusphere Blogger program and had so many scheduled

Lotusphere has this perception of being a giant party. Did you follow the Twitter stream of #ls09 this year? Just look at what I wrote on Sunday night after the Opening Party from Kimonos ... a true party. But what people do not realize is how much work and energy goes on during the day that we need to network and sing and drink and dance in the evenings to to release it all. I dare anyone to find another conference where people show up 2 days early to hang out. Where once the conference is over, a bar like Kimonos is as busy as the first night. Where people stay up until 5 am sitting in the main lobby of the hotel just being with each other. I have heard Mac World is like this, but for how long with Apple removing itself? Lotusphere is far more than the sessions or the show floor or the Opening Session. It is about the people. For seven days, all of us who talk via blogs, twitter, IM, and email, come together. We meet new people and our community grows. I am so proud to be part of

I am pleased to introduce a new IBM blogger, hosted by PSC, Brent Peters. Brent is in charge of the Notes Client and Domino server teams and is the man we have come to know running the "Ask the Developers" session at Lotusphere08 and 09. I have gotten to know Brent over the past two years and really respect his thoughts and vision. I look forward to learning quite a bit from reading his blog. You can find him at www.lotusstaffnotes.com. Welcome to the Lotus Bubble and Blogosphere Brent - I hope your ready for us.

Some thoughts on the Lotus product line and their announcements at Lotusphere2009: Lotus Notes & Domino Lotusphere2009 was really the celebration of the 8.5 release. The OGS might have been anti-climatic since the product shipped the Jan 4th, 2009. The conference was all about 8.5, with DAOS, ID Vault, and XPages all over the sessions. We also saw LinkedIn integration coming in the client with a great sidebar app. Project Atlantic became Alloy, the joint project between SAP and IBM. We need to see more of these - official plug-ins or applications for integration or web 2.0 inclusion to the Notes & Domino product line. I was expecting more Lotus Protector announcements but those did not come, but we got the big shocker of the week - IBM was working to add ActiveSync support to Lotus Traveler in 2009. This is a big move for IBM, providing an ability to allow certain devices COUGH iphone COUGH to connect to the Domino server. It will be interesting to see how this works out

Here is what's coming out today ... Movies Adventures Of Teddy Ruxpin, The: Come Dream With Me: The Complete Series Agatha Christies Mysteries Collection All New Super Friends Hour, The: Season #1: Volume 2 Aria The Natural: Part 1: Season 2 Blossom: Seasons #1-#2 Bourne Trilogy, The (Blu-Ray) (#1 in the DVDPS Top 40) Cannery Row Cheers: The Final Season College: Unrated Fireproof Girls Next Door, The: Season #4 Hulk vs.: SE Invaders, The: Season #2 Invaders, The: The Complete Series Lakeview Terrace Love Boat, The: Season #2: Volume 1 Mary Poppins: 45th Anniversary Edition New Line Crime Collection (#5 in the DVDPS Top 40) Open Season 2 Pride And Glory: SE Rocker, The: Born To Rock Edition RocknRolla: SE You're A Good Sport, Charlie Brown: Deluxe Edition Computer Games MLB Front Office Manager ( Xbox 360) Afro Samurai ( Xbox 360) Afro Samurai ( PLAYSTATION 3) MLB Front Office Manager ( PLAYSTATION 3) Coraline ( Nintendo Wii) Space Station Tycoon (Nintendo Wii) ( Nint

I came up with a great idea for all Lotusphere speakers. We are going to create a wiki page, based on the brand new Domino XPages Wiki template created by Steve Castledine of IBM. This is the first template contributed to OpenNTF.org by IBM since the big announcement at the Lotusphere2009 OGS. I figured why not put it to good use, create a reusable resource, and put the template thru some real testing all in one. I also think we need to have a resource in the Notes client, so I contacted Ben Langhinrichs @ Genii Software and he has agreed to update the Lotusphere2009 Sessions Database from this session listing every so often. It is being hosted on BleedYellow servers. No login today, but we will add that at some point. Thanks to Nathan Freeman made this suggestion and it is a great one. Please, no posting of the slides or demo files in this database, but let's use it as a single listing that links to everything. Maybe even IBMers can post their stuff somewhere we can all download.

If you were not able to make it to Lotusphere2009 or missed the Innovation Lab, eWeek has a slideshow with an overview. They missed Dandelion, my favorite thing in the lab, but still worth a read.

I am soliciting feedback here. I want to start a weekly blog entry/column but need some topics. I can just start with breaking down the Lotusphere presentation into small chunks to start .. but what do you all want to hear? I can cover the development stuff easy (UNO, the coming LotusScript and Java APIs, using Symphony in Composite Applications, Symphony Plug-ins, and Lotus Expeditor stuff) but what else do people want to learn about, talk about, and in general learn about Symphony?

For me, Lotus Symphony had a break-out year at Lotusphere2009. Yes, I did some presentations around Lotus Symphony, so maybe my opinion was skewed, but what a year for Symphony. The 1.2 release that ships with Notes 8.5 (and stand-alone since December) is a rock solid release. The preview of the 1.3 features, including Office 2007 compatibility (reading of files), major enhancements to Pivot Tables (replacing the default Data Pilot from OpenOffice.org). and the LotusScript LSX that I previewed in BP110. For those that have not seen it, Symphony 1.3 will have the first version of a LotusScript API that is very familiar to Lotus Notes developers. At the same time, we will also get a Java API. Documents and Spreadsheets will get the most attention in the first release of the APIs coming in 1.3. Mail Merge, basic document operation, basic spreadsheet operation, charts, and pivot tables can be generated in Lotus Symphony from Notes. Presentations will get more attention in a future release.

On Wednesday Night at Lotusphere2009, all of the Lotus Award winners were invited to a reception with Bob Picciano, General Manager of Lotus Software. I have to tell all of you reading, I got really sentimental and emotional during this hour. The Zain Africa Challenge project, which won on the 2009 Lotus Awards Best Philanthropy Solution, has been such a huge part of my life. I started working with the client that manages Zain Africa Challenge in 1993. I was 19. 15 years later, at 34, the project gets highlighted as the top philanthropic business partner project. Words can not detail how I feel right now. It is almost like this is the completion of a chapter of my life and it's time to find that next client & project that will change my life and the lives of others. I love what I do. Thank you to everyone that has been involved in this project.

Every year at Lotusphere2009, IBM Lotus sets aside an entire lab to showcase new and innovative projects that are going on in the IBM Research Labs around Lotus products. I make an effort to spend a good amount of time in the lab every year as you can see the future of the Lotus product line on the monitors in this room. Here are my highlights from 2009: EditSpot: Web Office Editor EditSpot has the tag line of "Document collaboration anywhere, anytime you need. The solution worked from a web browser on multiple platforms, multiple browsers, and on multiple devices like an Android device or iPhone. It has integration with Bluehouse/LotusLive which allowed a shape in a document to be tied to an Activity. Live Synchronization of page changes and annotations was seamless. ODF DOM support allowed for documents to become widgets for use in Mashups. It was even optimized for accessibility issues like screen readers. EditSpot also had multi-touch interaction. Next Generation Lotus Mobile

On Lotusphere2009 Day 4 (Wednesday), I had a chance to participate in the Chat with the Experts Press event. There were 5 tables with different technical team leads who were available for a discussion. I got to the event late due to it's overlap with my BP305 The Document Format Dance. When I got there, I went straight to the table with the core Notes & Domino team. Sitting at the table was Jeff Eisen, Chief Architect for the Notes Client, Sandesh Bhat, and Russ Holden, Chief Architect for the Domino Server. There was one member of the press sitting at the table: Volker Weber. Many of my readers might think I would want to head to another table, but I saw this as an excellent opportunity. I sat down and just listened for a while taking in the surreal experience. I was there for about 30 minutes, asked a couple of my own questions, and learned a lot. As a 'blogger' I have much to learn and I saw this as a great chance. Volker asked great questions and kept the conversation moving.

I have created an event on Slideshare.net for Lotusphere2009. You can get to it via http://www.slideshare.net/event/lotusphere2009. It would be awesome if we could get presenters to upload their presentations and assign them to the Lotusphere2009 event. You need to join the event first and then once the presentation has been processed, you can tag it to the event. I am also using the tag Lotusphere2009 on all the presentations. Let's see how many we can get on Slideshare!

Check out the LinkedIn Blog: LinkedIn: Coming Soon to an Inbox near you!

Check this out: Blackberry Cool - IBM, RIM Mobilize Business With Lotus Software and Developer Tools for the BlackBerry Platform

I made a comment to Michael Karasick, head of the IBM China lab and to others on the Symphony team that I wanted to share with the greater Lotus community. The Lotus Symphony team has to be the most amazing software team out there, not just inside IBM, but across any software brand I know of. They have done far more than any other group in the past 12 months. 4 releases of Lotus Symphony, a major investment in the new LotusScript API and an accompanying Java API that hides the UNO interface from the developer. Add on top of that what I saw on Dandelion: a web based document generation toolkit that uses the Lotus Symphony ODF to HTML/MIME converter which is some really cool technology. They did all of this and produced it at a quality level that far exceeded my expectations. Congratulations to the Lotus Symphony team. 2008 was an amazing year for you. I can not wait to see what you do in 2009!

No matter your preference for OOXML, ODF, or PDF … the document standard requirements are going to become a fact of life for users of IBM Lotus Notes & IBM Lotus Domino in the next year. This sessoin will review the technical capabilities of all three formats and how they work with Lotus Software. We will check the format debate at the door and look at which format will provide you the functionality you need. We will then look at how you can generate all three documents from your applications using third-party tools and custom code. You will take home samples that allow you to export Lotus Notes data to OOXML, ODF, and PDF in LotusScript and Java – be prepared for a deep dive into code! Swan 1-2 : Wednesday, 1/21/2008 : 11:15 AM to 12:15 PM BP305: The Document Format DanceView more presentations or upload your own. (tags: ibm lotus)

Lotus Symphony has matured quite a bit the past year, but are you taking full advantage of it in your own applications? This session will provide you the roadmap for integrating Lotus Symphony within your custom applications using the UNO API, Composite Applications, IBM Lotus Expeditor, OLE/COM, and the new LotusScript API that debuts with the current version of Lotus Symphony. We will walk thru each option, review the pros and cons of each, and build samples that demonstrate real-world usage. The session will end with an application that uses multiple integration techniques that you can take home and put to use straight away! This session is designed for those familiar with LotusScript or Java development. Swan 1-2 : Wednesday, 1/21/2009 : 10 AM to 11 AM BP110: IBM Lotus Symphony and You - A Developer's PerspectiveView more presentations or upload your own. (tags: lotus symphony) Download the demo files here

On Tuesday evening of Lotusphere2009, IBM tried a new approach with press announcements by hosting a blogger event. Almost two full days after the Opening Session, IBM had been holding a few announcements for Wednesday. They are: That IBM was working to implement ActiveSync support in Lotus Traveler in a 2009 release of the Domino product - this was demonstrated in two different session A recap on the Sametime 8.5 release which includes a rebuilt rich and web client for meetings Lotus Foundations Remote Office with full support of additional servers in an existing Domino Domain Both news items 1 and 3 were not news but the format of a formal Q&A was appreciated by the bloggers in the room. Most of us are not formal journalists but members of the community. We were treated like press. It really showed how IBM is trying to embracing the blogging community. After the announcements we saw a demo of a prototype of Foundations working together with Xerox software and copier/scanner te

You might have heard this on other blogs that are reporting on Lotusphere2009, but there is a change in the energy this year. It is almost like someone spiked the water that has in the bottles the executives are drinking. But then again, how does that explain the energy that is showing up in all of the IBM Lotus staff? EVERYONE here from IBM is far more upbeat, excited, and confident. And I think I figured out why. IBM came to Lotusphere with a message they believe in. They are excited about what they are showing and have a road map they plan to travel in 2009. That road map has things for the Notes faithful and for companies that are on the bleeding edge of Web 2.0. I may not agree with everything they are doing, but I love the confidence, detail, and passion they are moving forward with. More importantly, they are not here playing defense to any of their competitors. You do not hear "Well, Company X is doing this, so we are doing that." IBM Lotus is on the offensive. They are not b

The Blogger Q&A with the Lotus Executives was an interesting time this year .. as always. Someone always asks a question that makes the rest of the room talk about the weather ... :-) I asked how IBM Lotus was going compete with Sharepoint in 2009. Quickr and Connections are good products that will become great products in 2009. The problem is that they are not the platform or message that is Sharepoint. Sharepoint is something you can install in 30 minutes. It is a platform you can build your website on, use as a document store, make your content management system, run all of your workflow, and integrate with every server product on the Microsoft platform. There are thousands of web parts from partners available and web parts and lists are becoming defacto tools that END USERS can use. This is the beast Lotus has to go up against and win. Lotus - the technical aspect of your products have never been your problem. Your development story is great. You need to get the platform stor

was the LotusLive / Sametime Unyte meeting working on the Blackberry Bold emulator. Imagine being able to attend a web conference AND get audio (on a 3G device like the Bold) at the same time from anywhere. WOW Even more impressive is that I learned that IBM, not RIM, built the Lotus Live Meeting client for the Blackberry. Speaks volumes about the Blackberry platform and development environment. Nice job IBM and RIM. You impressed the hell out of me.

I want to congratulate Elguji Software (US) and Integra for Notes (EMEA) for both winning the CTO awards today at Lotusphere. Add Elguji's win for Breakout Technology and you have a great week. PSC is proud to host Elguji's solutions and be the US Premier Partner for Integra. Congrats to Bruce, Gail, Matt, John, Alexia, Julienne and everyone else!

Lots of people have blogged about the session details but I wanted to get some thoughts after the fact. First, this is by far the best OGS that Lotus has done in years. The tone was right, the energy was high, the pace was great. All of the brands got about the same amount of time and the demos were quick and to the point. Well done IBM. Second, I think they missed an opportunity to highlight the LotusScript editor coming in 8.5.1. All they had to do was have Ron show it and say it's coming and show the class library. That would have gotten a standing ovation and just lit up the room. Third, I really like the new Lotus GM Bob Picchiano. You can tell the team working around him are soaking up his energy and passion. I can not wait to see him duke it out in the marketplace in 2009. The funny thing about the OGS is that they did not need to cram in all the announcements as years past. They highlighted the new things coming in Quickr 8.2, Quickr Next, Sametime 8.5, Sametime Telephony,

Live from Lotusphere 2009, it is the Opening General Session .... Bob talks about growth - 12,236 new customers to the Lotus portfolio since the shipping of Lotus Notes 8 Dan Aykroyd is the guest speaker. more to come as we go ... LIVE!

Welcome to the real world, where Lotus Notes and Lotus Domino are just part of your corporate toolset. This session will introduce you to integration of Lotus Notes and Domino 8 and 8.5 with Microsoft Office, .NET technologies, OpenOffice.org, and Lotus Symphony. We'll start with the basics and gradually build up to advanced integration. Mail Merge, exporting to a spreadsheet, charting, presentation building, and integration on the Web will all be covered. Advanced topics such as Visual Studio Tools for Office and integration with Lotus Domino Web Services will round out the session. All new samples including integration with XPages will provide samples you can use as soon as you get home. John Head & Alex Kassabov Dolphin Americas Seminar : Sunday, 1/18/2009 : 8 AM to 9:30 AM Swan : Sunday, 1/18/2009 : 1:30 PM to 3:30 PM Note: The first run of this session is only 90 minutes. The second run is 120 minutes. We will have more content in the afternoon session. JMP205 - Integ

On the evening of the official first day of Lotusphere 2009, the unofficial events have started. Bloggers and friends Annual Lotusphere Dinner has taken place and beer and meatloaf has been consumed. Beer has been consumed at ESPN Club. The Lotusphere banners are up. Practicing of tomorrow's Jumpstart is underway. I will blogging as part of the official program and will be focusing on Lotus Symphony and Notes & Domino stories. Will be a fun week!

Here are the slides and the demo files for the LotusUserGroup.org Virtual User Group meeting that took place today on the Real World Integration topic. We had over 150 people attend and had some great questions. Slides LotusUserGroup.org Virtual User Group Meeting - The Real World IntegrationView SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: asp.net integra4notes) Download the demo database There will be a replay available sometime tomorrow. Alex and I will answer the questions we could not get to in the LotusUserGroup.org moderated forum. Thanks for attending!

If you would like a preview of JumpStart 205 - Integration of IBM Lotus Notes and Lotus Domino with Microsoft Office, .NET, and IBM Lotus Symphony that Alex Kassabov and myself are giving at Lotusphere 2009 (twice) ... or you are not attending Lotusphere 2009 and want to hear all about Integration in the real world ... or can't get enough of myself and Alex talking about Microsoft Office, OpenOffice.org, and Lotus Symphony, please attend our Virtual User Group meeting on LotusUserGroup.org this Wednesday. The Real World of Integration: How Lotus Notes & Domino Can Work with Microsoft Office, Lotus Symphony and the Power of Integra for Notes Presentation: January 14, 2009 at 12:00 pm Eastern (-5 GMT) Presented by: Presented by John Head and Alex Kassabov Modertated Topic Forum: week of January 12, 2009 We are doing 6 demos and taking questions ... not just in the user meeting but also in the forum all week long. Look forward to seeing you on the meeting!

Here is what's coming out today ... Movies 'Til Death: Season #2 Alvin And The Chipmunks: A Chipmunk Valentine Alvin And The Chipmunks: The Chipettes! Are You Being Served?: The Movie Ben 10: Alien Force: Season #1: Volume 2 Best Of Benny Hill, The: The Early Years Breakfast At Tiffany's: Centennial Collection Brick Lane Dallas: Season #10 Eclipse Series 14: Rossellini's History Films: Renaissance And Enlightenment: Criterion Collection Family That Preys, The (Widescreen) Funny Face: Centennial Collection Geppetto Hit And Run: Unrated Lakeview Terrace Lovejoy: Season #4 Made in Spain: Season #2 Mail To The Chief Man vs Wild: Season #2 Matlock: Season #2 Mirrors: Unrated My Best Friend's Girl: Unrated My Bloody Valentine Reba: Season #5 Swing Vote Taking Of Power By Louis XIV, The: Criterion Collection Walker, Texas Ranger: Season #6 Computer Games Lord of the Rings: Conquest ( Xbox 360) Stoked ( Xbox 360) Delta Force 10th Anniversary Collection ( Xbox 360) Lord of the Ring

Hard to believe that one week from today, we will have heard all of the OGS announcements, watched someone do some major singing at Kimono's, and I will be half way thru my sessions at Lotusphere 2009. As Mitch spoke up, so will I. I am one of the 25 folks who was selected to be part of the blogger group by IBM this year. Makes my life far more busy Here is my schedule next week: Saturday 3:30 PM - BALD Eveningish - EPSN Sunday 8 to 9:30 AM : JMP205 - Integration of IBM Lotus Notes and Lotus Domino with Microsoft Office, .NET, and IBM Lotus Symphony - the 90 minute version - Dolphin Americas Seminar 10 to 11:30 AM : Business Partner Day Opening Session 1:30 to 3:30 PM : JMP205 - Integration of IBM Lotus Notes and Lotus Domino with Microsoft Office, .NET, and IBM Lotus Symphony - the 120 minute version - Dolphin Southern Hemisphere I 6:30 to 9ish PM : Welcome Reception followed by Kimono's for sure Monday 8:30 to 10:30 AM : Opening General Session in the bloggers section Mon

Here is what's coming out today ... Movies Babylon A.D.: SE Bangkok Dangerous: SE Battlestar Galactica (2004): Season 4.0 (#1 in the DVDPS Top 40) Behind Enemy Lines: Colombia Disaster Movie: Cataclysmic Edition: Unrated Frisky Dingo: Season #2 Hell Girl: Season #1 Highlander: Director's Cut Mannix: Season #2 Pineapple Express: 2-Disc Unrated Edition Secret Diary Of A Call Girl: Season #1 Transformers Animated: Season #2 Tripping The Rift: Season #3 Tudors, The: Season #2 Waltons, The: Season #8 Computer Games Fishing Master World Tour ( Nintendo Wii) Scrabble Champion Edition JC ( Windows Vista / 98 / 2000 / Me / XP) Saints Row 2 ( Windows XP) Bigfoot: Collision Course ( Nintendo DS) Music Sesame Street: Elmo Loves You! ~ R.E.M., Trisha Yearwood, et al. Merriweather Post Pavilion ~ Animal Collective A State of Trance: Year Mix 2008 ~ Armin van Buuren Haymaker! ~ The Gourds Love, Save the Empty ~ Erin McCarley Glasvegas ~ Glasvegas Undone: A Musicfest Tribute to

This is very cool. ChannelWeb has featured the Lotus Awards 2009 Winners! And here is PSC highlighted for the Best Philanthropy Award

As we watch the first round of the NFL playoffs this weekend, I figured I would look back at my 2008 year of Fantasy Football. I was in three leagues and had various levels of success. First, there is the PSC League: 5 wins and 8 losses is not a good record. I got hit hard by drafting Tom Brady round 1 and never had a good QB all season. And then the friend's league that has been around for years (I call this my money league it is the one league I put real money into): 8 wins and 8 losses is .500 but I usually do better. I also drafted Tom Brady in my first round (had the first overall pick of the draft) and I got hurt hard on running backs - Willie Parker and Stephen Jackson. Just not my year. Last, in the Geezer Gamer Brigade league, run by John "Greyhawk64" Roling: But that only shows you the final standing, not the results of the playoff ... Yes, I won the GGBFL SuperBowl, beating Declan Lynch. Declan did well to get into the SuperBowl, but this team was a bit

After using Twitterberry 0.8 on my Blackberry Bold for about 2 months, I must say it is the killer app on the device right now. But after 8 weeks of use, I have a wish list. I would like to see the following added: 1. Add a retweet feature like twhirl from any open tweet or from the lists 2. The ability to open a user's stream from their name - make all @ names live links 3. From any user's stream an option to open their profile. The only way I can get to the profile now is from the users list 4. A way to see the waiting for approval list of user's requesting access to my twitter stream. I keep my stream as approval required and it would be great to do this from the BB 5. Allow me to do a direct message to someone without opening a tweet from them or their profile first. manual typing of name is a start, but type ahead of @ name would be perfect 6. Some level of searching. Not sure which service is best but basic searching would be great. TwitPic integration is great. Integration