Your applications
More than any other business conference I've ever attended, Lotusphere gives you a phenomenal amount of exposure and access to the developers, administrators and business managers from Iris and Lotus Development. If there's a technical or business issue that's giving you difficulties, be sure and bring it to Lotusphere. The labs (more about them later) will give you a forum to work with the appropriate person who can probably address your issue. If you're a Domino administrator and you're having a problem with your Domino infrastructure, bring along any network diagrams, connection schemes or a replica of your Public Address Books, (oops, I'm sorry -- Domino Directory), for problem solving in the labs. For me, this is one of the most valuable parts of going to Lotusphere.

Pack appropriately at home
Prior to leaving your home for Lotusphere, be sure and grab the following things that will make your life easier.

Bring a sweater or jacket for the evenings
Orlando is cold in January. Don't kid yourself. While its probably warm enough to wear shorts during the day, it can get cool at night so be sure to bring it to the outdoor events on Sunday and Wednesday nights. [Don't wear shorts in the conference. You'll look silly. -- DG]

Bring comfortable, closed toe shoes
You'll be walking at Lotusphere -- a lot! Bring appropriate shoes. The Sunday night welcome reception takes place on a sandy beach (site number 3 on the map above) so open toed shoes or any kind of heels would be an inconvenience. You might want to bring a beer cozie (thermal wrapper) on these nights too.

Bring an empty, duffel bag that can collapse
If you're not going to be shipping your materials home, you'll want to bring an empty suitcase or duffel bag to carry all of the junk. [Again, there's always that throwing-things-out option. -- DG]

Whew, you've made it to Lotusphere!
Once you get to Lotusphere, you'll probably want to make some plans, so you can get the most out of your time there.

Review the scheduled sessions when you arrive and start choosing
Trying to see all of Lotusphere is like trying to do the Smithsonian in an afternoon -- it just can't be done. You'll have to make some choices about what you want to see and what's most important to you. My advice: go to sessions that are slightly more technical than you think you're ready for. Most sessions that contain the word "Introduction" or "Overview" in the title will probably only be a Freelance presentation with little or no deep technical information. You can always download the presentation later if you really want it from the Web after a month or two.

While you're planning the sessions that you'd like to attend, you'd also be well advised to notice the building that the session is in. If the three breakouts that you want to see take place in the Swan, then the Boardwalk and then finally the Swan again, you're going to be very tired after the 3rd session. It takes about 15 to 20 minutes to walk from the end of the Swan to the Boardwalk, so be sure that your proposed schedule allows enough time to get to the sessions.