“Introducing the next version of Windows, Microsoft Windows Server 2003!” chimed some announcer-dude to the applause of a conference-room full of IT staff, administrators, and techies. I clapped alongside everyone else, because… well, I was invited to the event, and I wanted to see what it was all about.

Unfortunately, it turned out be a very boring seminar. You see, I got this invitation in the mail to be a part of the official launch event for the latest version of Microsoft’s server product. I thought it would be neat and interesting to go and evaluate whether that particular product would be beneficial to my company at this time. Turns out that’s a big no. But I learned a lot more than just about server technology. In fact, I probably learned the least about server technology. Here is, however, what I did learn:

I don’t want to be a stereotypical nerd. The dominant demographic at this conference was: middle-aged male; overweight; facial hair that’s scruffy; unkempt hair; huge, thick glasses; and a high-pitched, nasal voice. Gosh, I don’t want to become like that.

Nerds don’t know how to communicate. The number of um’s, er’s, and uh’s that came from the speakers’ mouth was nauseating. Plus, it was just plain cheesy. Silly dialogues between two people who know each other but pretend not to in the name of creativity is just plain dumb. Don’t memorize speeches; try communicating and interacting with your audience. And, if things don’t go right (see below), try not to make a stupid joke.

Even Microsoft can’t have a flawless presentation. The spotlights went off once for about three seconds, some of the videos didn’t work, the slide show got messed up, and then someone else’s audio was interfering with the presentation, so we were hearing random comments throughout the entire show. But the funny thing was that it was a Microsoft guy who was interfering.

Technology can be made to be super-boring. Super boring. I read a magazine throughout one entire session. At least be entertaining.

Nerds tend to isolate themselves. I talked to one guy save the Microsoft registration folk for maybe one minute, tops. Other than that, it was a pretty quiet time.

So I’ve decided to pursue non-nerdness and instead focus on trendy geekness.

Whatever.