If you came to my session at SharePoint Evolution last week in London, thanks.  It was great to see so many people and to experience one of the most professionally organized events I’ve ever seen.

During the session in which I offered some tips on how to make your life as a SharePoint admin easier, I managed to get quite a few laughs from the slide pictured below.  I think it sums up my job pretty well.  It’s all about spinning plates.

First there are the plates that are already spinning. These should keep spinning just fine, but you need to check them regularly to ensure that none of them are about to fall off their stick.

Then there’s the plate that you’re currently in the process of making spin.  You really need to give this all of your attention, but you’re also watching all those other plates out of the corner of your eye.  Just in case.

Finally there are those empty poles, onto which you really need to add more plates.  These, too, also require your full attention.  Or at least they will do when you’ve finished the current plate.  After which, when you start on the new plates, you now have one extra plate to keep a constant eye on.

Is that a fair analogy?