I used to take cameras to conferences just to capture some memories for the photo albums but it seems that you’re no longer a professional analyst, twitterer, journalist or blogger (or anatwitterblogalist if you do them all) unless you have a camera. Preferably digital. With both video and still capture functions. And if you are to attend a convention such as Lotusphere, then a landscape or telescopic lens wouldn’t be out of place either. Apparently.

The modern anatwitterblogalist is so geeked up to the eyeballs with technology that I half expected to see some of them wearing their undies on the outside of their pants. I actually did see someone wearing a cape this week. Having only spent around $500 a few months back for a podcast quality audio recorder and a few hundred more for a Skype softphone, and a few grand for a vodcast quality digital video-recorder I am not sure how my wife will feel about another camera. Thank god I got my Jabra headset from a recent Microsoft event. Hopefully this year they will kick in for a utility belt, and next year I can bring one of our junior analysts as a side-kick.

With so much instant media floating around I actually thought it was really gracious of all the IBM executives all the way up to Bob Picciano in taking no umbridge at any of the press conferences when a number of anatwitterblogalists would ask a question and then stick a zoom video lens in their faces while they responded.

Ironically I have seen the same thing happen to journalists in Australia (from other journalists); they have responded not so graciously and demanded that any footage be utilised unedited where it is much easier to ensure context. 

Anyway as you can see from my pitiful attempt to capture the roving Dan Ackroyd and Blue Men Group on stage during the keynote, and the lack of pictures of IBM executives, my Blackberry didn’t quite live up to the challenge. But you can definitely tell its Dan Ackroyd. You'll have to take my word for it that it is the Blue Men Group.

Seriously though, the thing about a good multi-day conference is that you should never expect to take home 20 things to change the world. If you come away with 2 or 3 pearls then it has been a success. So over the next few weeks I will be releasing four reports as the local data comes to hand from our annual spending and priorities study to support some of the nuggets uncovered this week at Lotusphere. Be sure to check back if any of the following areas are of interest to you.

• Corporate Social Computing Software Strategy, Adoption and Intent
• Lotus Collaboration Options for the Australian SME
• Stepping into the Breech with WebSphere Portal
• The Future of the Corporate Desktop Service and the New Flagship for the CIO

Finally, IBM were just about alone at the top of the quarterly reporting tree yesterday despite announcing 20,000 layoffs. But with cash in the bank that is clearly a reflection of internal economic and fiscal policy. End-user adoption of the Lotus suite is sure to kick more global goals in 2009, maybe even because of the downturn. It’s time for Australia to take another serious look when the Lotus Comes to You event series hits down under in the next few months.

And to my sister’s Lotus geek boyfriend Mike who may just be reading this today in Brisbane. I did get you a t-shirt but you should have seen the size of the feedback survey I had to complete to get it!