Here’s a photo of the Las Vegas strip looking south toward the Mandalay Bay Hotel (the tall gold building). The Mandalay Bay Convention Center, where Interop 2007 was held, is on the far side of the hotel.

Photo credit: PDPhoto.org

One of the first Interop signs that I saw at the Manadalay Bay Convention Center was this one that announced Xirrus as the WiFi provider for the show. As I wrote last month from the Web 2.0 Expo, the difference between Xirrus and other providers as shows like this is huge.

Photo credit: Jason Hiner (CNET Networks)

Cisco CEO John Chambers surprised the Interop crowd by talking mostly about Web 2.0 and collaboration in his keynote.

Photo credit: Interop

Photo credit: Interop

Photo credit: Interop

Photo credit: Jason Hiner (CNET Networks)

Photo credit: Jason Hiner (CNET Networks)

Photo credit: Jason Hiner (CNET Networks)

Photo credit: Jason Hiner (CNET Networks)

Photo credit: Jason Hiner (CNET Networks)

Microsoft and interoperability are two words that are not often thought of together in the enterprise tech space. However, Microsoft was making the pitch at Interop that it intends to make interoperability a much more important part of its enterprise strategy.rnrnPhoto credit: Jason Hiner (CNET Networks)

Photo credit: Jason Hiner (CNET Networks)

Photo credit: Jason Hiner (CNET Networks)

Photo credit: Jason Hiner (CNET Networks)

Photo credit: Jason Hiner (CNET Networks)

Photo credit: Jason Hiner (CNET Networks)

Photo credit: Jason Hiner (CNET Networks)

Photo credit: Jason Hiner (CNET Networks)

Photo credit: Jason Hiner (CNET Networks)

Photo credit: Jason Hiner (CNET Networks)

Photo credit: Jason Hiner (CNET Networks)

Photo credit: Jason Hiner (CNET Networks)

Photo credit: Jason Hiner (CNET Networks)

Photo credit: Jason Hiner (CNET Networks)

Interop is a show for big vendors with big, flashy booths, but there was still some space for a few little guys.

Photo credit: Jason Hiner (CNET Networks)

Considering how often the words “Web 2.0” came up at Interop, it was a little surprising to see the Web 2.0 Pavilion of the show floor have so few vendors. I’d expect that this section will look a little different next year.

Photo credit: Jason Hiner (CNET Networks)

One of the most creative and popular booths at Interop was this one from BlueCat Networks, which makes IP Addressing and DNS/DHCP appliances. As cool as the flying saucer is above the booth, that’s not why the booth was so popular.

Photo credit: Jason Hiner (CNET Networks)

BlueCat Networks used this tiny bit of space on the back of its booth to give its presentation to attendees. It’s what was on the other side of this wall that drew people in.

Photo credit: Jason Hiner (CNET Networks)

BlueCat had a mini video game arena set up for four players at once to face off in first-person shooter games.

Photo credit: Jason Hiner (CNET Networks)

BlueCat was also one of the few booths to entice attendees with “booth babes.” Their greeters wore silver spandex suits with the BlueCat logo on their hind parts. You can see one here on the left watching the video gamers.

Photo credit: Jason Hiner (CNET Networks)

As the attendees played, their games showed up on flat screen TVs around the outside of the booth.

Photo credit: Jason Hiner (CNET Networks)

Photo credit: Jason Hiner (CNET Networks)

One of the things that distinguishes Interop from other trade shows is that it puts IT into action in a transparent way in the InteropNet, where vendors bid on the opportunity to run services for the show. This is the first of a series of photos of the InteropNet NOC, which offers tours throughout the show.

Photo credit: Jason Hiner (CNET Networks)

Photo credit: Jason Hiner (CNET Networks)

Photo credit: Jason Hiner (CNET Networks)

Photo credit: Jason Hiner (CNET Networks)

Photo credit: Jason Hiner (CNET Networks)

Photo credit: Jason Hiner (CNET Networks)

Photo credit: Jason Hiner (CNET Networks)