Yesterday was incredibly cool. I met Robert Scoble and Maryam, who were on their way from Paris to London and we had a great time. Frédéric picked me up right after my classes were finished and we drove off to Zaventem for a geeky (but pricy) dinner at the Serenata. I sat next to Maryam and we had a great time talking about almost everything you can think of. Scoble himself sat right in front of me. I expected a lot more people, but then again, it probably wouldn’t have been so cosy and pleasant. Now we really had the time chat about life, internet and blogs.
After dinner in the cafe : beer makes you happy. Love even more.
When we arrived at the Serenata, we were asked: ‘Microsoft?’ to which many of us, for the first time in their life -and often a bit hesitating- replied: ‘yes’, looking around a bit embarrassed, hoping no one was blogging this. We then got pointed to the first floor where it was about to happen. Robert and Maryam went to do some sightseeing to fill the day, but of course one day just isn’t enough to see all there is. Belgium might be tiny and very ‘petite’, there’s a lot of things to be seen. A few minutes after Frédéric and I arrived to the scene (some familiar faces where already there), the Scobles made their entrance.
Some of us where pretty amused to see Robert was still wearing a ‘Longhorn’ jacket, and Maryam… well… damn. She’s so charming. I had a great time and a good laugh. I couldn’t have wished for a better person to sit next to. On my right side was Will from Hamstersoup.com, who actually promised to start blogging and already did his first posts today :)
Robert: How will you know I got fired at Microsoft? The day Google Ads appear on my blog! (heheheh)
The Scobles were very amusing and made great company for a very entertaining night, and a bit of advice for the other blog dinner organizers : soup, bread, cheese and ice cream with fresh fruit is actually all they need. In this case it wasn’t like that. Too bad.
After dinner, we went to a cafe to try out some Belgian beers, and Robert paid for all the drinks, which is something everybody appreciated a lot. If you ever want to be friends with Belgian folks, just buy them a drink. Instant access to the heart :)
We left Zaventem at midnight or something and Frédéric and I stopped in Mechelen on the way home, because he absolutely wanted to show me a great place where he often drinks. A few beers later (it was 2am already) we left and he gave me a ride home. What a night !
Some other pics :
Luc, David (who arranged the dinner) and Robert
Me & Maryam
The Doppler-Team & Robert
Maarten from SixApart tries to get Maryam into using TypePad :)
Frédéric tries to recognize any shapes on Robert’s business card
Me & The Man
If you want to see more pictures, Randy and Robert have put up a gallery of all my images.
Isn’t that just great? They’ve done all my work :)