Thoughts from a non-Lotus conference
- Vegas is an impressive place to host a conference. Cheap, massive capacity, lots to do, but a *lot* of distractions that easily fragment the attendees. If you want to maximise your education at an event, I don’t think Vegas is for you. If you want to entertain (or be entertained) it’s impossible to beat.
- Symantec Vision is a very well organised event.
- The bags and swag are way better than Lotusphere
- At IBM events, I typically know a lot of people. Some of them know me. At this event I am a total newbie. Strange feeling. It is easy to say there is no sense of “community” here, but there are gangs of people eating and drinking together. There is a “community” but I’m just not a member.
- It’s hot. Very very hot. That said, going outdoors rarely happens. I miss fresh air.
- Everyone is polite to the nth degree.
- Mobile device management sessions were standing room only. Symantec are entering this space very soon.
- I introduce myself as a person working with Enterprise Vault first, then IBM technologies. I don’t mention Lotus as (to be honest) it is embarrassing with this crowd.
- Most people discussing Lotus notes include “we are thinking/planning migration” in the sentence. When I ask why, the answers are vague.
- Everyone admits there is massive amounts of data still in Domino applications on thousands of sites. Enterprise Vault would be wise to leverage the ability to archive this data.
- I’m very used to travel, but a 2-day trip to Vegas from the UK is harsh. A 10 hour flight awaits me to Gatwick.
Dan Soares Said,
May 5, 2011 @ 4:02 pm
***Most people discussing Lotus notes include “we are thinking /planning migration” in the sentence.***
OUCH! Seem to be hearing more and more of that feedback from people who are strongly committed to the Lotus brand.
I was in Vegas twice for the old DevCon conferences when I was just getting started with Lotus. Met the Turtle at one of those. I wish they had never discontinued those. They were excellent conferences.
pmooneynet Said,
May 5, 2011 @ 4:35 pm
Dan – Don’t discount the fact that anyone I asked couldn’t justify it. I wasn’t “attack kitten” mode, just simply asking the reasons why. This is an emotion thing, not a cost thing.
Curt Stone Said,
May 5, 2011 @ 5:04 pm
In my recent experience, the move is not an upgrade. We did a migration because we were on two platforms for a large company. The larger population won the platform choice.
Keith Brooks Said,
May 5, 2011 @ 5:27 pm
Paul, I am sure by next year’s you will be well entrenched in that community there too. Always interesting to see things as a newbie.
Darren Duke Said,
May 5, 2011 @ 5:52 pm
Life outside the bubble is somewhat disheartening. Imagine what is like trying to sell it.
pmooneynet Said,
May 5, 2011 @ 7:59 pm
I don’t need to imagine.
Henning Heinz Said,
May 6, 2011 @ 8:39 am
Ironically I know a lot of people that would try to run away when they hear Symantec too.
Thank you for a interesting review. It is always good to get a broader view of the picture.
Thoughts from Paclug / Admin 2011 / USA vacation Said,
July 9, 2011 @ 6:54 pm
[...] As said before, Las Vegas is not an ideal place for a smaller conference, as there are way too many distractions. Aside from that, the Planet Hollywood venue is excellent. After that, we went on vacation. Some thoughts: [...]