All this week I am attending the World Computer Congress 2008 (WCC 2008) in Milan. Well, someone's got to do these international duties! I thought I would devote my blog this week to my experiences and will split it up into parts to avoid too long a post.

Saturday 6^th September

My first experience of Heathrow Terminal 5 and, despite the adverse publicity, it was actually most impressive. I had booked in online and the fast bag drop was just that. T5 is a shopaholic's paradise and I am afraid I succumbed and bought one of the new Sony eBook Readers (tax free naturally). I'll update you on my impressions of that later. I am pleased to report that my luggage arrived at the same destination as I did and altogether it was stress-free. The hotel I had booked turned out to be a good choice and came complete with Wi-Fi. I would prefer that this was free but at 10 Euros a day I suppose it was acceptable; certainly the performance is excellent throughout the building.

Sunday 7^th September

The WCC is being held at the Milan International Fair site - a vast complex not unlike Earls Court. Supposedly there will be 2000 delegates and the venue should accommodate them all with plenty of room to spare. Arriving to check in as a pre-registered delegate I quickly needed to use my dictionary to look up the Italian for "bacchanalia in a beer-making plant"! I am still trying to work out how there can have been a badge for me but I was nevertheless told that I was not registered. Having been directed to the queue at another desk it quickly became obvious that a major crisis was underway. A helpless Latin shrug of the shoulders seemed to be the solution. I have been told to "come back later" but whether this means an hour or next year is not currently specified. Nevertheless I am admitted and join the throng of delegates from all over the world. The first friendly face is Colin Thompson who quickly introduces me to the President of IFIP - Professor Basie von Solms from Johannesburg and we arranged a one to one meeting for later in the week.

The evening saw the Congress Gala Dinner which was a glittering occasion. We were treated to a superb rendition of Vivaldi's "The Four Seasons" by the Orchestra of the State University of Milan. An Italian menu followed and the evening closed with a presentation of the first IITP accreditation to Australia. BCS to follow soon!

Monday 8^th September

The Congress properly starts with a tide of IT humanity trying to find the right theatres for their particular Congress stream. I am attending the IT Professionalism stream in which the BCS is very prominent with Charles Hughes, Colin Thompson and Roger Johnson to the fore. Wi-Fi still works in the subterranean room we have been allocated. Wonders never cease! Mind you I have spent the whole lunch hour trying to get my Outlook to send mail. It will receive mail but for some reason not send. It keeps telling me that I cannot connect to the Outgoing Mail Server (I use BT Yahoo). After much trial and tribulation I find an obscure reference on Google that suggests using Port 587 instead of the usual Port 25. Lo and behold! All messages sent. Can anyone explain this?

The biggest competition of the conference is for the few power sockets available in the halls. Thank heavens for my spare long life battery.

Lastly, a word of praise and admiration for the skills of the simultaneous translation people without whom the whole week would be double Dutch - or is that double Italian?

Back to work! More news later in the week. Arrivederci.