So you are not attending IBM Connect 2013, and if you're anything like me you're feeling a little left out that you won't be onsite for what promises to be an fun-filled gathering of IBM Collaborative Software experts and enthusiasts.

That's right, I won't be attending IBM Connect 2013 either due to family obligations on the home front (5 kids == too many activities to list here). So, if you're not going... and I'm not going... what should we do to pass the week aside from watching Twitter for #IBMConnect posts?!

In truth, I'm not too sure - but let's do something!

I'm seriously considering hosting a few Google+ Hangouts and getting discussions going on various topics. I've also thought of doing a livestream of me XPages-enabling this site... but not too sure if anyone would be interested in that sort of thing.

Have a suggestion for a Hangout topic or livestream/public build we should do next week? Want to watch me copy/paste and Google Search my way through XPages-enabling this site?? Think I'm off my meds for suggesting we keep ourselves busy and entertained while seemingly everyone else is Orlando-bound?!

Let me know via the comments below. There are no bad ideas here, gang -- like always, you guys drive the content you'll see on this site.

Also, don't forget to Like/+1/Share this post to help spread the word!

For those of you who couldn't make it to Lotusphere 2012 and missed the GBS Sponsor session from Scott Hooks (with some awesome co-presenting live demo work from Brad Balassaitis), here's the 18-minute fail safe demo video I made in case the Lotusphere Wireless connectivity was an issue.

See, Scott -- who is extremely smart when it comes to stuff like this -- always has a backup plan, and in this case if he couldn't show a live demo of XLibrary (an IBM XPages-based Document Library mashup with Twitter, LinkedIn, Connections, and the Google Search API), he at least wanted to be able to show it off via a demo video.

(Demo video, upcoming article, and demo download details after the jump!)

Lotusphere Tuesday for me was an "off" day -- meaning that I had sessions to attend, people to meet up with, interviews to take, and all-said no specific GBS functions (no booth duty, etc.).

Up early and ready to take on the day, it hit me that my SpeedGeeking slidedeck wasn't quite there... [In hindsight, it more than likely was... but as this was my first time, I really wanted to rock it -- I'm insecure like that!].

I spent the next few hours [after being striken with self-doubt] "beefing-up" my 'deck, and running through the presentation to see if I could still deliver this updated content within the 5-minute window.

For those of you not familiar with SpeedGeeking at Lotusphere, here's the short-short-version:

There are 12 [although this year there were 13] tables -- just large enough to hold a laptop, bottle of water, etc. -- setup in a circle. At each table stands your presenter, who has their individual topic/presentation. People line up at the tables in segmented groups based on their birth month (people born in January were grouped together and put at Mitch Cohen's booth, then moved next-month|table clockwise).

A few interviews, showcase visits, and sessions later, I was off to SpeedGeeking!

First of all, while I wasn't nervous about speaking [as anyone knows me will confirm, speaking is never an issue with me... it's shutting me up that's the problem!], I was nervous about my content. My presentation was "10 Things You're Not Doing", which means that with the 5 minutes alloted, I had to spend no more than 30 seconds per topic in order to get through my slidedeck.

A 5-minute session repeated 13 times in immediate succession... is a marathon. Some times I hit the time, some times I didn't [hey, when the architect of XPages leans on to innocently get a look at your code, it's kinda like Orsen Wells coming to your school play... you forget your lines!], and sometimes I had just enough time to thank everyone while diving for the bottle of water that doubled as a Wii Remote prop for my Progressive Enhancement slide.

The experience was amazing, and at the end of the session, I felt exhausted. I left my brain in that session which -- thankfully for me -- was the last time I'd need it that night.

After the session, it was off to the Lotusphere 2011 Engineering Party. Great people, but the tactic of inducing feedback on the microphone to get diners attention and the want to gather the GBS Experts team for a teammember's idea led me to the Dolphin Lobby bar just in time to partake in Devin Olson's micro-brews... that were anything but micro! Honestly, outside of being really good at it, I don't know why the hell that dude's coding for a living. I'd give a disclaimer at this point that would mention that he's not only a GBSer but he's also a GBS Expert (read: on my team), but Devin melted my face off with his brewmaster skillz... and I'm not even a big drinker!

After discussions with friends, I was off to call it an early night!

My Lotusphere 2011 SpeedGeeking session - 10 Things You're Not Doing! Gave this presentation in 5 minutes 13 times [in a row, back to back], and had a blast!

I will most likely be recording a quick [5 minutes, right?!] screencast of the presentation I gave, so stay tuned (and until then, you at least have the slidedeck]!.

Lotusphere 2011 Monday was -- at least for me -- an amazingly motivating day.

My company bringing 500 college students [many participating in up to three XPages development contests] to Lotusphere, packing the OGS (and marking the most new blood to attend Lotusphere since the very first conference) was immediately given more weight when this year's guest speaker Kevin Spacey took the stage.

(Click thru for more...)