I just got back from Symantec Vision 08, and I have to say that it was better than last year. Last year was not bad in any way, just that some of the talks were fairly boring and had a large walk out rate.

The Keynotes were excellent, and the food plentiful which is what I always like to see from a supplier. I mean, if you want me to buy your product, give me a gift or some food and make me feel the love.

Of particular note was Craig Crispin who talked about innovation and how it is the only real way for companies to differentiate themselves from others, because you can always be beaten on price or service when you are selling the same thing, but if your product shows innovation, then you can win business over your competitors every time. He talked about the huge amount of ideas that are generated, but the low number of ideas that are ever actually turned into a product. We need to create forums for ideas within our own companies so that people can express themselves and make the product or service that the company provides better.