ShadowRAM: February 25, 2008

Super, But Not That Super
• It's been a year and a half since HP held an Americas Partner Conference, and it seems as if the vendor is bent on making up for lost time. At this week's event at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Mark Hurd won't be the big draw—operational gurus just don't have the same pizzazz as Sheryl Crow, who will give a private concert Wednesday night for the 2,000-plus APC attendees.

And in case Sheryl Crow doesn't do it for you, HP has lined up former San Francisco 49er Super Bowl and League MVP Steve Young as a keynoter. We can't wait to ask Young about the time he led the Niners to victory in the 1998 Super Bowl. At least that's the way HP tells it. According to Young's biography on the agenda, "Steve is a three-time Super Bowl champion, leading the 1989, 1994 and 1998 San Francisco 49ers to victory in the preeminent U.S. sporting event."

We'll give Young credit for a 1995 Super Bowl win following the 1994 season. But Joe Montana was the QB in the 1989 victory and John Elway was the QB for the Broncos when he won his first NFL title, beating the Packers in the 1998 Super Bowl.

Oh, well. Expect it to be a week filled with hyperbole.

Aww, How Cute Is He?
• It's been an eventful past few months for Technology Integration Group President and CEO Bruce Geier. Last fall he had to flee his San Diego home in the face of the Southern California wildfires. Then Geier, who started his business more than 25 years ago, landed a spot on CRN's Top 25 industry executives. But all of that drama and glory pales in comparison to the event of Jan. 24. That's when Geier's wife, Angela, gave birth to their son, Trent Ian Geier, who came into the world at 7 pounds, 3 ounces and 20 inches long. What does this joyous event mean? Geier looks like he just signed up for 25 more years in the solution provider business. And even if he retires, he'd better brush up on the rules and techniques of soccer because we see a youth coaching career for him in the not-too-distant future.

SEEN AND HEARD
• Alternative rock band Linkin Park performed last week in New York at the Apple store in SoHo. Rumor among bloggers was that the midnight performance would coincide with possible product announcements. The product that was announced at the event: a video of the 30-minute concert will be available on iTunes.

• We hear that IBM is putting on a full-court press to beef up its mindshare and market share among SMB solution providers. The vendor recently made a pitch to Ingram Micro's VentureTech Network members in an effort to get them to sell more IBM blades and IBM storage, according to solution providers. Many of the VentureTech solution providers shifted their desktop and mobile PC business to HP when IBM sold off its PC unit to Lenovo. IBM's numbers through Ingram Micro in the coming months should tell how well the message was received.