Whether you were able to join us at Puppet Camp last week or missed out, here is a quick recap:

Wednesday started off with simultaneously the best and most awkward dinner I’ve had in a while. While searching for a reservation for 20 people at 7pm in a city at near capacity I had the good fortune to trust Yelp recommendations which led me to take our group a small hole in the wall Pakistani restaurant. True to it’s roots, Shalimar offered a family style meal sans alcohol. Those opining for beer were silenced by the sharp flavors and spices the meal offered and the family style plate sharing bonded the Puppet team and some of our guests at the Serrano in unexpected ways.

Thursday hit like the first splash of water from the shower head: it’s sharp, cold, and confusing but you have to just wait it out. The crowed poured in and our speakers arrived. Breakfast was laid out and most importantly the wireless was working. Our MC Deepak opened with a little stand-up and tid-bits of information and before long Luke announced that Puppet Labs had acquired mCollective, a deal that literally occurred at the registration table mere minutes earlier. A huge thanks is owed to our presenters R.I. Pienaar, Jeff McCune, and Richard Crowley. Their slides and video presentations will be available soon. The night ended at Swig for a drink reception at which attendees consumed a copious amount of alcohol, the tab for which was graciously sponsored by Canonical & Puppet Labs, and then turned into a spread sheet for Friday morning.

A more sluggish crowd arrived Friday morning and proceeded to consume 180 cans of Red Bull. Big thanks to Paul Nasrat, Jason Wright, John Adams, and Alessandro Franceschi for their presentations. Our morning break was interrupted by a fire alarm and all 140 of us marched like ants down 11 flights of stairs but the rest of the day went relatively smooth. A beginners session was offered to participants by Puppet Lab’s own Dan Bode in the afternoon. If you were interested in Dan’s presentation and the “Puppet Newbies” breakout session on Thursday don’t forget to mark your calendars for the 3-day Puppet Master Training offered in the Bay Area on December 7th-9th. Puppet Camp closed with a panel discussion that allowed members from the Puppet Community to discuss the future of the project.

All in all I think Puppet Camp was a success but please provide any feedback you have on our Puppet Camp Survey. Again a big thanks to our sponsors RightScale, NetworkRedux, Canonical, and Red Bull. Also, thanks to Gary Larizza for all of the pictures.

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