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When you talk about a show on the scale of Macworld Conference & Expo, it is normal and natural to talk about the things you see. The show floor, the exhibitors, the conferences, etc.

However, all of that stuff is the top of the duck. As busy as it is, it floats serenely on top of the water, as though the Almighty is personally shepherding it along. It is entirely too easy to miss the other part, that's paddling like mad, and making 22098452390475 course corrections that you will never know about, and are absolutely critical to the smiles of everyone who goes to Macworld. I've been speaking at Macworld since 1999, and I'm going to take some time here to talk about the folks who put forth a herculean effort to make sure that every Macworld is as good as humanly possible.

However, one thing needs to be said:

In spite of any feelings people had about Apple's Keynote, or the lack of big Apple announcements, from my point of view, and that of a lot of other people, this was, without doubt, or qualification, the best-run, easiest, most enjoyable Macworld Conference and Expo ever.

When you speak at a conference like Macworld on a regular basis, you start seeing a lot more of the people who make it work. You start getting a vague idea of the amount of back-breaking, sanity-quesitoning work it takes to do a Macworld. As I said, I've been speaking at Macworld for eight years now, (and I'm still a pup at this), and even the infinitesimal slice I see is always impressive. Every year, the IDG World Expo staff just delivers.

This year, they blew it all out of the water. They didn't raise the bar, they burnt it down, because "raising the bar" doesn't begin to cover how well things worked. I know that everyone at IDG shares credit for this, but I'm going to single out four people for some extra kudos: Paul Kent, IDG World Expo's Brand VP in charge of Macworld Conference & Expo, Sarah Hindmarsh, Audience Development Manager, Macworld Conference & Expo, and Kristen Margulis, Conference Specialist, and Schoun Regan, MacIT Conference Chair.

While I know Paul will happily, and consistently deflect all praise down his chain of command, the truth is, you cannot have an excellent conference without excellent leadership, and that's what Paul provided. This Macworld was the first one he had from start to finish, and his experience, skill and ability showed in everything. Dealing with Paul has always been something I look forward to every year. He's professional, friendly, and really listens, not just to VIPs or company presidents, but to everyone involved with Expo. Those qualities were reflected throughout the entire IDG organization at Macworld. I have sat here for a few days, and in discussion with others, and we simply can't come up with anything Paul and his people did that wasn't, well, excellent. (Yes, I'm using that word a lot, but then, it's been earned.) Paul assembled a top-notch team, then did what a lot of people in his position would have been unable to do: He let them do their jobs. No micromanaging. You didn't see him trying to do everything himself. Instead, you saw his people doing their jobs, and it was well understood that when anyone from IDG spoke, it was with Paul's voice. Paul will again, do his best to deflect this effusive praise, but in this case, I'll not let him. He earned every bit of it, and I hope that his bosses take notice of this small web site, and hopefully many others, and give him even more resources to work with for 2008.

Sarah Hindmarsh has, over the years, moved from "one of the IDG people" to one of my close friends. However, she also knows from experience over those same years, that I'll not hesitate to let her know, in excruciating detail, about anything that I think is wrong/pisses me off. This year? Nothing but love for Sarah and the work she and her people did. While "Audience Development Manager" sounds like a non-title, it means that she's the one trying to figure out new ways to get even more people to come to Macworld. Meetings with Macintosh User Groups, (MUGs), email, signs on cabs, dealing with fussy exhibitors, people who think they should be sitting on stage with Steve at the keynote, you name a headache, she's the one trying to make it go away. Again, this year, there was nothing wrong. I couldn't even carp about the aisles being too narrow in the South Hall. Everything just worked, which is, after all, what the Mac is all about. If you think I'm overstating this, take a look at the maps of the exhibit halls. Look at the event schedule. Ponder the logistics of getting exhibitors not just in and out of the halls, but in making sure that everyone's booth had the proper amount of space, and resources. Then remember that one of those booths is Apple's and another one is Adobe's. Think of all the things that happened to get people to come to expo, and help them get to the places they wanted to be. That's the kind of thing that Sarah was handling, and handling well. Again, more excellence from the Macworld folks.

Kristen Margulis was new to Macworld, and tasked with running the speakers to boot. If you think MacMacs are entitlement queens, let me tell you, speakers can be farrrrrrrr worse. There's more ego in the speaker room on any day during expo than the entire U.S. Congress. Even if you've been dealing with speakers for a while, it can be hard. As a first-timer? Getting out with her sanity would have been a sign of a good job, but Kristen did far more than that. The speaker gifts this year were...dude, I felt like I was presenting at the Academy Awards when I saw them. However, that's just swag. Really, really, REALLY COOL SWAG, but swag nonetheless. Swag's just toys. It was the smoothness of getting things done that showed just how right Kristin is for this job. There was nothing, from chairs, to mics, to water, to network connections that wasn't smooth. She handled most problems before they became major, and even when hit with a rather major well, temper tantrum by someone who felt that being an abusive jackass was the proper technique to get his way, (Yeah dude, you know who you are, and you were being a total jerk. The only thing the name - dropping you were doing accomplished was making those people look bad for associating with you. I sincerely hope you get your karma payback tenfold for that little performance.), she dealt with the problem, and him, with grace, aplomb, and professionalism, all the while letting Mr. Cranky know that no, in fact, she was in charge, and if he wanted rules bent for him, he needed to start behaving in a proper manner. She's far more patient than I am, I don't react well to whining. Kristen handled it perfectly. Everyone who saw was absolutely impressed by her grace under fire.

Schoun Regan ran the MacIT track for the first time this year, and were I to say, which I am, that he hit it out of the park, I'd be understating it. Scheduling that many sessions, when everyone wants to be at three different ones in addition to the ones they are already in is a logistical nightmare, but he did as good a job as I've ever seen done. In addition to handling the standard conference issues, along with teaching in quite a few of them, Schoun managed to pull in speakers who really elevated the level of the MacIT conference, especially such luminaries as Amit Singh. It is not easy finding technical people who can stand up in front of a room full of really smart people and do well, but Schoun pulled it off and then some. Paul used to have exclusive ownership over this domain, and always did a top - notch job, so I'm happy to say that he couldn't have picked a better person to fill those shoes.

Yeah, I know, this is a little gushy, but it's earned. It's hard to pull off even a competent conference on this scale. To run one that was as outstanding as the 2007 Macworld was?

I have run out of superlatives.

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