Looking forward to Google I/O this week

I’m looking forward to Google I/O this week. I’ve been to I/O in the past as an attendee, but this is my first time seeing it from the other side of the fence. There’s obviously a lot of prep work that goes into it; colleagues have been heads down recently getting things ready and applying the last bit of polish. As you might be able to tell from the announced session line-up Google has some interesting things to share; I’m very curious to see how things are perceived and received.

It’s also to see some of the logistics of holding I/O at Shoreline. Google’s Mountain View campus and Shoreline are stick in a bit of a cul-de-sac; there are limited ways in and out, so things can go to hell when there’s a lot of traffic. We actually got email this week asking folks not to drive in before 10 to help alleviate some of the morning (and pre-conference) rush. I bike to work, so it won’t affect me (and Bike to Work Day in the Bay Area is Thursday, so that should help too), but it’ll be interesting to see how the roads look (as I breeze by in the bike lane). I will note that there will be bike parking at I/O, so if you’re attending you might consider biking too (the Stevens Creek Trail makes it really easy to get to Shoreline, the weather is supposed to be lovely this week).

I’m also curious to see what traffic on campus is going to be like. The Shoreline Amphitheater is actually a bit away from campus, but I’m sure we’re going to get a fair number of people wandering over to look around. We get a fair number of tourists who stop by to take pictures of the buildings, the Android statues, and themselves riding the Google bikes (which drives security nuts; I suspect it’s a liability issue). Will we get an order of magnitude more this week? It’ll be interesting to find out.

The fun kicks off on Tuesday.