• "This isn't rocket science, it's just a number of simple things put together."

• "Web services is like the Wild West; it's a brand new world."

It's key quotes like these that really help me to conceptualize where Lotus is heading and think about where I want to steer my own career as well.

How I will spend the next six months
I've really enjoyed attending both Lotusphere and Lotus DevCon for the last two years. I like it because these events are six months apart, which gives me a chance to keep current on the latest developments and yet have enough time between the two events to start working to develop cool applications using what I learned.

Here is an ordered list of what I'm going to be focusing on in the next six months:

QuickPlace
Lotus QuickPlace (at http://www.lotus.com/home.nsf/welcome/quickplace) is a Web tool for team collaboration. QuickPlace lets you create a team workspace on the Web that you can use to share and organize ideas, content, and tasks around any project or ad-hoc initiative.

Without a doubt, QuickPlace is at the top of my list of technologies to master. It's the key to making my most important projects successful.

Sametime
Lotus Sametime (at http://www.lotus.com/home.nsf/welcome/sametime) is an instant messaging tool that you can use to improve customer service, reduce travel costs, and create communities among your employees, customers, partners, and suppliers. I'm currently in the process of reviewing Sametime for a future issue of DominoPower, so you'll see more about this soon.

Rnext
Rnext is the code name for the next feature release of Notes and Domino. It's currently available in Beta at http://notes.net/rnext.

I really want to master Rnext by the time it comes out. I don't want to be twiddling my thumbs and waiting for months to upgrade after it is finally released.

Domino Everyplace
Domino Everyplace (at http://www.lotus.com/home.nsf/welcome/domeveryplace) extends the current Mobile Services for Domino technology by providing a comprehensive platform for secure mobile and wireless services. Domino Everyplace and Mobile Notes lets you access your Domino-based information from any number of wireless and handheld devices, such as WAP phones, handheld computers, pagers, and digital phones supporting SMS messaging.

I'm a handheld fanatic with a history of loving wireless, so I'm very anxious to see what can be done with Domino Everyplace.

SOAP
SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol) is one of the key technologies behind Web services, and I've already started to read about it in the book, Understanding SOAP: The Authoritative Solution by Kenn Scribner and Mark Stiver. You can find it at http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0672319225/.

I was focusing on QuickPlace and Sametime before DevCon, but after DevCon I added Rnext, Domino Everyplace, and SOAP to my list as well.

Yes, but I still miss Mickey
When I first started hearing about Lotusphere outgrowing Walt Disney World, I thought, hey, it would be pretty cool if it were held in Las Vegas instead. I thought this, because I'd never been to Las Vegas and wanted to see it. Now that I've actually experienced a Lotus event in Las Vegas, however, I hope that Lotusphere doesn't move there. There's something special about having it in the middle of Walt Disney World that would just be destroyed if they had to move it. Here are my top 10 reasons why a Lotus show in Orlando is better than Las Vegas.