#Geeksquee and More: 5 Choice Moments from Interop 2015

### 4. Know what's cooler than cool? Minus5 ExtraHop's out of this world event management team (consisting of precisely one person) put together one of the best happy hour meet and greet type events I've attended at a show. Ever. From either side of the fence. The Minus 5 ice bar is exactly what it sounds like. Everything is made out of ice. The walls, the bar, the seats, the decorations - even the cups you drink out of are pure ice. This event not only brought new meaning to "on the rocks" for my bourbon, but it was a hell of a good time. Attendance was off the charts and there were so many good conversations I lost track. What I do remember is that customers were rubbing elbows and talking excitedly with not only ExtraHop folk, but each other as well. That, to me, is as good as it gets. One thing's for sure, though - we totally took that ice sculpture. Just sayin'.  ### 3. You make some of my favorite games, and think you might want to be a customer? # Geeksquee! Okay, judge if you will, but let's be honest here, almost all of us have a little bit of a fanboy/girl/person in them for the right thing. A few of mine are obvious, and one of them is video games. When a mover and shaker from one of the more prominent of those companies, one that had a not so insignificant hand in shaping the way the hours of my youth were wiled away, showed up for a demo, I was excited. When it turned out I got to be the one to give said demo, I was stoked. When they spent 30 minutes chatting with me, and left saying things like "Here's my card, make sure you call us, we could really use this, wah wah wah wah, wah wah wah". I'm pretty sure there was something else there in place of the "wah wah…" in real life, but I effectively lost consciousness and blacked out about that point. My inner monologue was something like "OH MY GOD! YOU'RE FROM <amazing company>! I LOVE YOU GUYS! YOU ROCK!" while he was talking about details for setting up an appointment. Good thing there were other folks there to get his details. Unabashedly, there was more than a little geek squee in that moment, and I loved it. ### 2. Not all suites are equal Ours was better than yours. Why? Not because it was bigger (it wasn't), or fancier (though the moths were rather an elegant touch), or more expensive (last one available, perhaps?) but you know what? We were in it. We rocked the hell out of it. We had a great time. Jesse, one of our esteemed leaders and co-founder, set aside some time for the ExtraHop folk in attendance to unwind, shoot the breeze, and bond. I'll tell you what, I know the people I was at the show with better after 3 days together than I do some folks I worked with for years elsewhere. It was a good time. Then there were some drinks. And then it was a great time. Then there were some drinks. And then it was time to get out of there before the fourth rendition of "When a man loves a woman" or some such madness. It was a blast, though, and the people I get to work with rock. ### 1. Yes, there *is* actually a time-stamp there. We *can* read it, and we're *not* lying. Honest. For me, though, one of the absolute coolest moments of the entire trip (that I can talk about) was getting to convert non believers. This happened more than once, but one time in particular was extremely memorable. There was a sharp, well educated, savvy tech dude that swung by the booth. He was never mean or rude, but he was pretty adamant that we couldn't do what I was claiming we could in my demo. He and I went rounds, technically speaking, for about 30 minutes, digging deeper and deeper into the meat of things. He even evoked ye ole' OSI model on me. I was, however, loving every minute. After over half an hour I am happy to report that we got there. He got it. The light bulb went on, and he left saying "Wow, that's actually some really cool stuff. We might need to look into that". Ahhhh, music to my ears. To a geeky evangelist type there really are few things better in business than taking a non believer and turning them into a supporter and, perhaps with enough care and feeding and education, perhaps some day even a zealot. I said it in Vegas and I'll say it here: ExtraHop's tech stands up to anything out there. Grab the (free) [demo](/demo/). Try it. Ask questions and learn. Chances are, you'll end up loving it too. I did. So after a few dozen fantastic demos, more than a few drinks, and some awesome time among like-minded peers, I winged my way home to Seattle. I'm glad to be here and catch up with the fam and the veritable Everest of email that was waiting for me, but I'm still fondly remembering the killer moments that Interop had to offer.