What are your favorite DAC memories?

What are your favorite DAC memories?

For me, a small selection:

- DAC34 Anaheim 1997. Stayed in the Disneyland hotel. Having a breakfast meeting in full business attire (suits & ties) in the hotel restaurant and we were descended upon by the whole cast of "Beauty and the Beast". Surreal! (and somewhat annoying!)

- Emailing a daily DAC report back to my co-workers at home using DACNet, whatever the first year was that there was a DACNet, before we all carried laptops. I think it's the first time I had done the thing we now call blogging. Thanks Sun!

- DAC 35, Vegas'96: Joe Costello to John Cooley during a panel discussion "...I've never held a gun to anyone's head... yet."

- Watching a sea-of-gates place-and-route work as it should for the first time

- Seeing First Encounter for the first time

- The eeCAD marketing campaign

- During the Internet boom, talking to bad internet startups. Thinking, 'Money will be free forever, VCs will invest in anything'.

- Learning that the title of "product evangelist" is something one can aspire to.

- Wondering what the heck "deep submicron" meant

- Meeting with former colleagues once a year and seeing what's new, and how they have grown and changed

- Talking to Denali circa 2001, and wondering why anyone would ever need to buy an IP for a DRAM controller. Now I know!!!

- DAC40, Anaheim '03. Dan Caldwell introducing me to Keith Hopkins at Denali, and me having my first serious talk with Denali. Thanks Dan!!

I work harder than any week of the year at DAC, but there is also some partying:

- DAC35, Vegas'96. Penn & Teller show courtesy of Quickturn. Thanks guys!

- DAC37, Los Angeles, '00. Cadence/HP booked out Paramount studios & had Huey Lewis & the News play. Great Show, thanks Cadence and HP! Most surreal moment: They bussed everyone over there, and had hired teenagers to meet the busses and pretend we were some kind of movie stars getting off the bus, get our autographs, take pictures with us, etc. Cool idea!

- DAC39, New Orleans '02. Front & center watching Ray Charles, courtesy of Synopsys. Thanks Synopsys!! Ray's handlers kept interrupting the show asking people not to take photos, and Ray kept feeling his watch and left after *exactly* 60 minutes, but it was still awesome.

- DAC38, Las Vegas '01. Cadence booked the pool area at the Hard Rock Hotel (complete with real sandy beach) and had The Beach Boys play. Everyone had come direct from the conference and few had changed into casual wear. The beach area was packed, but the left side of the stage was partly in the water and nobody wanted to stand there. I took my shoes & socks off, rolled up the legs of my pants, and stood in the water - the best location possible.

- DAC38, Las Vegas '01. Synopsys booked the RumJungle in the Mandalay Bay hotel. Not sure which was more fun: watching the aerial show, or watching the engineers watching the aerial show.

- Missing the infamous Denali party at Club Ra in the Luxor Hotel in 2001 :-(

- Going to every Denali party since 2002. Each one a gem, probably worth it's own "what was your favorite Denali party" thread. Thanks Charlene and Jeannette!