I love conferences. So much information. So much energy. So many ideas. I’m always inspired when I find myself in the company of a few hundred or a few thousand peers. Great fun.

Yesterday was the first day of MIX. I learned more about Windows Azure (didn’t know about Traffic Manager, which sounds pretty cool), Windows Phone 7 (great usability and design presentation by Megan Donahue DVC02), and IE10 (Markus Mielke explained a lot about the new CSS3 features being implemented – VERY cool).

Probably the most interesting (though not particularly useful) thing I learned was that high-level people from all the top browser makers talk on a conference call once per WEEK to discuss emerging HTML5 standards. Wow! They meet in person 4 times per year, too! They respect each other – even like each other. Browsers are an area of enormous competition and yet the people working on them work together, too. I think it’s safe to say that the focus is actually on making the web a better place, which is awesome. Someone should make a documentary about those meetings.

I even got to party with old and new friends last night.

Today is the second day of MIX. Wonder what I will learn today.

If you are here, email or tweet me – I’d love to chat.