Munich fuel

To get through the intense European Identity Conference last week in Munich (thanks, Kuppinger Cole folks!), I had to make sure to drink lots of fluids. I’m referring, of course, to coffee, beer, and one extraordinary whisky (thanks, Ping Identity folks!).

Bavarian coffee cup – gift from a local friend

The 2010 edition of the conference was lively and valuable. Here are just a couple of stories about encounters I had there, with more thoughts and info to come.

I had the good fortune to meet Christian Scholz in person for the first time; we participate in the Data Without Borders podcast series together, but in the way of the modern world, had never occupied the same room. Christian was serving as a credentialed event blogger. We hung out together during many EIC sessions, and I learned a lot by seeing the enterprise IdM world through his eyes; we seem to share a strong interest in the idea of radically simplifying IT. (I also learned how he came by the moniker Mr. Topf…) Don’t miss his conference musings.

And I had the great pleasure of meeting UMA’s own Graphics/UX Editor, the talented Domenico Catalano — though I already felt I knew him well! Domenico’s graphical and intellectual work graces a lot of the UMA material (and if you’re going to IIW next week, you’ll see even more of it). What a delight to cement friendships by meeting IRL.

The erudite and prolific author Vittorio Bertocci kindly gave me a copy of his new book, A Guide to Claims-Based Identity and Access Control — and I couldn’t resist asking for an autograph. (Though I was forced to sleep off the week’s excesses on the plane rather than read, this tome is next on my list.)

Finally, I had the opportunity to participate in three panels (data portability, privacy-enhancing technologies, and trust frameworks), and really appreciated the skillz and charm of moderators Dave Kearns and John Hermans.

Thanks and congratulations again to KC+P gang; it was a heck of a show, and they were ever the gracious hosts. Stay tuned here for more about the week’s events from my perspective.