Saturday, October 31, 2009

Sharing a hotel with the President


When OOW finished, I made my way to the hotel, only to find myself stopped from entering the road by a policeman.The entire street was closed and people were held behind a barrier. Eventually we were told that Obama was staying in our hotel and that we could not get in until he had arrived and was safely inside.


My friend Basheer Khan (who looks after my brother 'Khanley'), was also held behind the barrier and he had a plane to catch but his luggage was in the hotel! Eventually a policeman came to check if we had a valid reason for being in the hotel and then made everyone put their bags on the road and a dog then sniffed them all. I have to thank Debra for leaving me inside her bag, if I had been pulled out and investigated by a dog it would have been the final indignity.




About an hour after we arrived we were allowed back into the hotel, escorted by a policeman one by one. Well it was a little bit of excitment and I dont think there are many world leaders who can say they have stayed in the same hotel as 'Stanley'.

Then the next morning I had a breakfast date with Dan Norris and Robyn Sands but found myself, locked in! We could not leave the hotel until the President have left, Debra stood up against a window to watch the cortege get ready to leave. There were ambulances, a bomb squad, many dark vans with mirrors to match the sunglasses everyone was wearing, blacked out limos, all very impressive and led away by the original guy from CHiPs.

Meeting my Fans

I have a lot of fans and sometimes I simply don't get time to see them all. At OOW I missed seeing Sean Tucker from Team Oracle, this is a man I admire not only is he famous for his flying skills but he takes time out to spend with his fans, he is 'down to earth' .... well when he is not 'up in the air' something I aspire to be.



So when I missed the chance of catching up with him at OOW, I was still feeling poorly after my operation (see previous post) Sean took time out to donate a signed cap to me. Then to make sure he knew how he felt about me he allowed Steve Romeo to make this little video. It is a bit dark but if you turn it up loud you can hear Sean talk about me, The great Stanley.

A Belated Happy Birthday

Before Oracle Open World got going we had the ACE party, it was fantastic and even better we got to celebrate the birthday of our beloved leader Justin Kestelyn . Lillian and Vikky arranged the best birthday cake ever with a fantastic picture of him in icing. But what do I as a simple vest give a man such as this?

My friends Mogens and Dan thought I should do something very special and give him something that means a lot to me. They came up with the idea of making a T Shirt that actually included a bit of me. I love Justin a lot but giving him part of me is possibly a bit too much. The idea was that I would supply the ACE for Justin's T Shirt.

But then I thought about it, people give kidneys to the ones they love and so I could do the same. I went through the 'live donor operation' and was glad that during OOW I could sit on my special chair and take things easy. Debra carried out the operation and was quite gentle, her stitching was very neat and if you and I become special friends I may one day show you my scar.

Big Apology from Stanley


I went to Oracle open World expecting to blog everyday, when I get together with my friends I normally get involved in a few escapades but this time I was so busy. I had to be there for my fans, I had my chair in the OTN lounge and I had stickers and cards to give out. I saw so many people wearing the 'I love Stanley' stickers.

I did have my own unconference session, it was a small crowd but I enjoyed it, the chance to talk about me, the ACE program and OTN.

I got to show off some holiday snaps and reminise about all the places I have been in the last year. Denmark, Finland, Sweden, UK, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, USA, Israel etc. I have had such a great time.

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

STANLEY, you naughty boy

apologies, my session is at 1pm but if you get there early, come by the OTN lounge and drink coffee and hang out with the cool people

Monday, October 12, 2009

Who am I?


If you are visiting this because you picked up a card in the OTN lounge at Oracle Open World, welcome. I am Stanley mascot of the Oracle ACE Program.

Come along to the unconference tomorrow at 12 midday and I will tell you all about myself. Have your photo taken and we will get some up on the website. If you have your own photo taken with Stanley load it on my facebook site.

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Finally Joined Facebook

I have now added to my social network and joined facebook

Join Me on 'Oracle Community'


Visit Oracle Community

I have so many friends but one who has supported me from very early on is Eddie Awad creator of 'Oracle Community' I am now a member and I want all my friends to join me there

Friday, October 9, 2009

The Original ACE Director

Not only am I the original ACE Director but I am also acknowledged officially.

I am so pleased and when you check out my entry look around at all my friends the other ACEs.




If you are at OOW please look out for me I will be in the OTN area all week, come by, have your photo taken with me and get one of my business cards.

Getting ready to see my friends again!

Yesterday I huddled up in my bag in Debra’s suitcase - I do wish she would let me ride in the aircraft cabin but at least she remembered to bring me (that was meant for you Dan). We are on our way to Oracle Open World 2009 in San Francisco, but first there is an ACE Director meeting at HQ.

There is no real reunion planned this time but I do hope some of my siblings turn up. I also have some real exciting things planned so look out for me in the OTN lounge. No pictures on this posting but I am expecting a lot to be taken this week.

Stanley in Amsterdam (with Sue)

Just the following weekend I got to go to Amsterdam. Anything goes in Amsterdam and this had been planned for a long time, I was really excited. Sue Shaw is an Apps ACE (JDE) who is also the new President of Quest was working in Amsterdam and she and Debra had this really cool weekend planned.


We stayed in the Hilton in a room opposite where Yoko and John had their 'Bed In'.

People often ask Debra why she and Dan started the whole Stanley thing, well really it is just a way of creating excuses. Debra used it to persuade her insurance company to by her new glasses,and I used it as my alibi for the great ‘Apple Robbery’ but Sue is the ACE of excuses. She has a weekend in Amsterdam and is frightened that if she talks about Stanley too much her husband will get suspicious, so actually the entire ‘Stanley’ story was made up as an elaborate cover for a great weekend away. To keep the pretence up we had to take lots and lots of photos of the very important me.



I have heard lots about what goes on in Amsterdam and was expecting a ’spliffing good time’. We did drink a lot but not too much, once Debra fell down some stairs in an Amsterdam 'Coffee Shop' (see me on THE stairs in photo below), and I didn't want to end up meeting Amsterdam Police!





In Amsterdam anything goes (as I already said) and it is the best place ever to people watch so no-one seemed surprised that centre of each photo was me, a red Vest. I had my photo taken on a boat - lots of canals in Amsterdam, and made friends with a very quiet boy who stood very still and never spoke. Debra said his name was statue.

Why was I in the Post?

Debra was really lucky she got to test Fusion Apps at the end of august and even better when she arrived at Redwood our guest writer Beth Norris realised that both Debra and therefore Stanley could meet up with Dan who was also going to HQ that week.

So I persuaded Debra to go off to SFO and meet Dan, problem is she went to the wrong place although she insists Dan came out of the wrong place and we all had a very touching reunion. In the film ‘Love Actually’ the airport reunions always bring smiles to people, but whenever I am at an airport reunion I only get stares, have these people never seen a Vest before???

Anyway back to the story…. I had a great week at HQ and met up with old friends like Basheer Khan and made great new friends with people like David Haimes. I can’t tell you who else I met Debra keeps going on about something called an NDA (never Divulge Anything)! Anyway to cut the story short read about my diving trip with Dan and Mogens in my recent blog

However Debra only let Dan take me because she thought I would not have another outing before OOW but when she got home she realised she would have two ACE weekends before OOW. Debra was meeting up with Sue Shaw and Karen Brownfield who are new ACEs but members of the Product Development Committee Debra chairs so know me well already.

So Debra was a bit annoyed, no Stanley and the chance for two holidays for him. Then Dan came to the rescue, he said he could get me back to Debra. What he didn’t say was I would have the indignity of being quashed into a US Postal Service bag and have to travel half way around the world in the dark. I can tell you I didn’t much like it but at least it gave me an alibi.