Jack's Zoholics Developers Conference Blog: The Fabolous Fourth Day in the Golden State!

Friday, April 29, 2016

Zoho Conference Stage

Big Jenga Set

Fun Furniture

The day got off to a slow start because I was sore from the fall from the day before and I arrived later 10 minute than I originally wanted to arrived. No worries, I was still able to eat my usual breakfast items of hash browns, chicken sausage, and bacon. I even added a peanut butter sandwich this time because I did not eat anything the previous night. The first session was a key note from one of the top Zoho software enigneers and the following sessions were about what is new to Zoho. We got to see the new changes to Zoho like the new look to Zoho Creator and the cool functions such as the ability to format different sections of a form in as many column as you want to include. The Zoho engineering team even showed there new program that allows users and developers to create their own apps and submit them to the Apple and Android app stores. This could come in handy for several functions at Mississippi State University with our different and upcoming interactional model. I even learned that Zoho has a program for surveys that could help Residence Life format, design, organize, and send information to the appropriate people in a more efficient manner. The Zoho team ended the conference with a list of things that they are still working on such as adding more themes, miscellaneous sections, and a rating matrix option. I was suppose to have a one on one with someone from the Zoho team but there were more conference attendees than team members so that did not happen. Switching gears from the technical talk, I have to say that the Zoho environment was a great experience, and I loved to see that the tech world really tries to make things fun a lot like student affairs. I even saw some cool couches and chairs everywhere. There was even a giant bean bag serving as a coffee table not to mention several chess sets and a giant Jenga set. Like I said earlier, the entire place was a fun atmosphere.

Beautiful Redwood Trees

Tall Redwoods

Well, I had some day light left, so I drove an hour and a half to the Muir Woods National Park and yes the traffic was still congested with it being rush hour on a Friday. The weather was breezy with redwood trees everywhere. I cannot remember a time where I was in such a surreal, peaceful, calm, and scenic place. There was a little creek flowing through the immense redwood forest, and I could hear the sounds of the ocean as well. I walked about a hour deep into the forest and I felt like I was in a magical place. This stroll through the forest provided me with a spiritual experience and I now know why the mountainous wilderness is a great place to meditate and examine yourself. I could benefit more as a person in places like this These redwood trees are so big and tall, and it just amazes me to think that God makes such wonderful things. I have been through several forests in my life and nothing compares to this experience. It is simply amazing. Well, the park was getting ready to close and day light was dimming, so I made my trip back to the hotel in Pleasanton. I have to give my props to the Jetta that I drove because I put the miles on it and turned some crazy curves up and down the mountain. Go Jetta Go! The gas mileage on the Jetta is great because after four days of adventuring and site seeing. I still had a fourth of a tank of gas left when I returned to the hotel. To end my last adventure day in California, I ate a medium pizza a restaurant called Faz in the hotel and had some mixed fruit juices such as cranberry, orange, apple, and pineapple. This was quite a fruity experience. I have a big tomorrow as I am making my journey back home to Starkville, MS. The estimated time for me to wake up is 3:45am to get to the airport in enough time to check in and pass through security before my flight departs at 6am. This has been a fun and exciting trip so let me shower and hit the hay.