ILUG2007
I LUV ILUG
May 28 2007 08:00:00 AM
Add/Read Comments [0]
A lot has already been written (Technorati , Google) and photographed (Flickr) about last week's "independently run, Lotusphere like event" ILUG2007, but I wanted to take a moment a provide my own recap.
The event was fantastic in every aspect, and believe it or not, free! (thank you sponsors). Please join me in a HUGE well deserved round of (virtual) applause to the organizing committee. These folks don't do this for a living, they really do have day jobs!
Paul Mooney, Eileen Fitzgerald, Warren and Kitty Elsmore, Bill Buchan, Tom Duff, and Fluffy.
Or as they were known at the event...
Small but perfectly formed, She who must be obeyed, A/V Bloke, She who must also be obeyed, The Mad Scotsman, and The Token American.
While it may be in an unofficial capacity, a lot of credit also goes to Volker Weber, the good mother.
I kicked off the event with a 90 minute keynote which I think went over well. Rather than the typical marketing or sales pitch, I tried to give the audience some insight into the market factors, trends, and technologies that help us (Lotus) design and deliver our current products, as well as some hints about our future. Once that was complete (I almost got the hook for going over, I do like to talk!) I was able to finally get a few hours sleep. After waking up, this event provided me a great opportunity to catch up with some of my Lotus colleagues such as Rocky (who's daughter Kelsey was the hit of the show, what an amazingly mature girl), Mary Beth, Darren and Kathleen. I was also able to see some old friends in the community, as well as make some new ones: Bruce Elgort, Chris Blatnick, Daniel Nashed, Deborah Latter, Kevin Pettit, Rob McDonagh, Rob Novak, Sean Burgess, and a dozen others that I am missing... but I enjoyed seeing them as well!
From a business perspective this was a great way for me to speak with several customers and partners all in one location. There were some fantastic products on display for System Administrators, Application Developers, as well as Lotus Notes users. I encourage you to follow the sponsors link above, and if your company is not using these products, they should be.
If all these names don't mean anything to you, you really are missing out on one of the most important aspects of the Lotus world, our "community". These people are some of the best and brightest in the world. They speak at conferences, blog about areas of interest, answer questions in forums, donate code to OpenNTF, and a lot more. I know many of my readers are just "users of Notes coming here for tips", but I implore you to get yourself and/or your company more involved in the overall Lotus world. You won't regret it. Please let me know if there is anything I can do to help.
So in summary, 10/10, 5 stars, Thumbs up. Events like these are exactly what we all need to keep the amazing karma around the Lotus community going. With Notes 8, Sametime, Quickr, Connections, Portal, and more... these are some of the most exciting times for Lotus, but at the same time some of the most competitively challenging. We win as a community, not as a thousands little islands.
The event was fantastic in every aspect, and believe it or not, free! (thank you sponsors). Please join me in a HUGE well deserved round of (virtual) applause to the organizing committee. These folks don't do this for a living, they really do have day jobs!
Paul Mooney, Eileen Fitzgerald, Warren and Kitty Elsmore, Bill Buchan, Tom Duff, and Fluffy.
Or as they were known at the event...
Small but perfectly formed, She who must be obeyed, A/V Bloke, She who must also be obeyed, The Mad Scotsman, and The Token American.
While it may be in an unofficial capacity, a lot of credit also goes to Volker Weber, the good mother.
I kicked off the event with a 90 minute keynote which I think went over well. Rather than the typical marketing or sales pitch, I tried to give the audience some insight into the market factors, trends, and technologies that help us (Lotus) design and deliver our current products, as well as some hints about our future. Once that was complete (I almost got the hook for going over, I do like to talk!) I was able to finally get a few hours sleep. After waking up, this event provided me a great opportunity to catch up with some of my Lotus colleagues such as Rocky (who's daughter Kelsey was the hit of the show, what an amazingly mature girl), Mary Beth, Darren and Kathleen. I was also able to see some old friends in the community, as well as make some new ones: Bruce Elgort, Chris Blatnick, Daniel Nashed, Deborah Latter, Kevin Pettit, Rob McDonagh, Rob Novak, Sean Burgess, and a dozen others that I am missing... but I enjoyed seeing them as well!
From a business perspective this was a great way for me to speak with several customers and partners all in one location. There were some fantastic products on display for System Administrators, Application Developers, as well as Lotus Notes users. I encourage you to follow the sponsors link above, and if your company is not using these products, they should be.
If all these names don't mean anything to you, you really are missing out on one of the most important aspects of the Lotus world, our "community". These people are some of the best and brightest in the world. They speak at conferences, blog about areas of interest, answer questions in forums, donate code to OpenNTF, and a lot more. I know many of my readers are just "users of Notes coming here for tips", but I implore you to get yourself and/or your company more involved in the overall Lotus world. You won't regret it. Please let me know if there is anything I can do to help.
So in summary, 10/10, 5 stars, Thumbs up. Events like these are exactly what we all need to keep the amazing karma around the Lotus community going. With Notes 8, Sametime, Quickr, Connections, Portal, and more... these are some of the most exciting times for Lotus, but at the same time some of the most competitively challenging. We win as a community, not as a thousands little islands.
