Remnants of Pretty Good Burgers and golden fries lay on the table between four web wizards tucked into a booth in the downtown Merced restaurant.
After two days of keynote speakers, seminars, breakout sessions and a sponsor fair at UC Merced, attendees of the annual UC Tech conference picked up and moved to the city's vibrant Main Street core to walk the bricked sidewalks, inhale the small-town atmosphere and enjoy some food.
Conference-goers were impressed. Jenn Dandle, who has attended UC Techs at other campuses over the years, liked what she saw.
"It seems the town appreciates what the university brings to it, and that's really cool," said Dandle, web manager of the Geisel Library at UC San Diego. "There's an intermingling between the town and the university you don't always see."
Oh, and her team, which shared her booth, recommends the fries, with or without seasoning.
A couple hundred conference attendees, representing information technology expertise from every University of California location, strolled the four-block stretch for what the host campus organizers called "Metal on Main." The label was a nod to the conference's theme, "To the Metal: Reflect. Reforge. Reimagine."
UC Tech's hosts spiced the evening with a hunt - attendees collected dot stickers at Main Street locations. Every dot meant another entry into a raffle for a UC Tech-branded Bluetooth speaker and other prizes.
Scott Armanini, associate director of strategic initiatives at UC Davis, proudly displayed 10 stickers of yellow, red, orange, purple and green on his badge. He had just scored a dot at Hi-Fi Wine.
"The hospitality of UC Merced has been off the charts," Armanini said, "just outstanding organization and preparation."
As the sun dropped below the skyline, the good vibes continued. Attendees tapped toes to live music by Sound Remedy. Two UC Office of the President colleagues at Lovers Deli dove into squares of pepperoni pizza, one with jalapeños, one with hot honey. Four from UCLA wrapped themselves around a carnitas tray and onion ring tower at The Mainzer. Three others from UCOP slammed buttons on Pac-Man Battle Royale Chompionship at Joystiq.
"UC Merced really put their own spin on the conference," said Tobi Paton, a business systems analyst who recently went from UC Davis to UC Berkeley. "Usually, you're on campus the whole time, and here we're getting a taste of downtown Merced.
"Yeah. I'm loving this."
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