JavaOne 2008 is almost over. It was another fun and content-filled event - even if it lacked the big announcements this year. I'll be blogging about some details and interesting things I saw over the next couple of days.

One of the really great aspects of my job as community ambassador is that I get to interact with many talented folks around the globe and get to see a lot of cool stuff people are doing in the mobile and embedded space. Often, I am involved with folks electronically over months, working on projects, pulling together information, establishing connections - so I know them quite well before ever meeting them in person. And at events like JavaOne I then finally do get a chance to meet them face to face - an opportunity which I really appreciate. Even with all the non-stop electronic communication of today's world the personal touch is as important as ever. Nothing can replace a handshake and a few minutes of one-to-one conversation to establish a relationship.

Brazilians Bruno Ghisi, Lucas Torri, and Alexandre Gomes have been very active members of the Mobile & Embedded Community pretty much from the start ... and they all made it to JavaOne this year. These guys are smart, crazy, and have a couple of good tricks up their sleeve ;-) I'm looking forward to seeing the results of some of the projects they are currently working on!

The picture shows us at the Thirsty Bear open source unBOF on Tuesday night. Left to right and top to bottom: Ken Gilmer (BugLabs), myself, Onno Kluyt (Sun, Senior Director of Communities and Standards), Roger Brinkley (M&E community leader), Lucas, Bruno, and Alexandre.

Guys, enjoy the rest of your stay in San Francisco and see you online soon,

-- Terrence