Joshua Flanagan

I arrived at DevDays Austin about 5 minutes before the scheduled start of the keynote, so I was rushing around the convention center looking for the auditorium.  I instinctively headed in the direction of the exhibition hall that hosted every other Microsoft event I've attended.  As I got closer, there was a noticeable difference in the attire of the people around me.  For one, there was a much higher than average number of cowboy hats (as a relocated New Englander, I've finally gotten used to the idea that a small number of cowboy hats is to be expected).  I finally found a woman wearing a black DevDays 2004 shirt, she immediately recognized my confusion, and directed me to the top floor on the complete opposite end of the convention center.  Huh, why are we being “hidden away” in such a remote location?  That's when I noticed the large banner announcing the “Texas & Southwestern Cattle Rancher's Assocation” convention.  Aha.