Thursday, January 26, 2012

Missed Lotusphere 2012 Don't Cry, MWLUG Announces MWLUG 2012 Dates, Location, and Hotel

Didn't get a chance to attend Lotusphere 2012 like many that I know, don't cry. IamLUG 2012 and MWLUG 2012 is coming.

The MWLUG Team would like to announce the location of MWLUG 2012, it will be held at the beautiful and historic Omni William Penn Hotel on August 15-17, 2012 at the heart of downtown Pittsburgh. And yes they have good WiFi.  If you think the past few years were great, wait to you see what we have prepared for at MWLUG 2012.  We are bring together our MWLUG 2012 team that includes new volunteers from Pittsburgh. 

Last year we added the successful "Social Business" track which we will include again.  For MWLUG 2012, we are adding a new track which we will announce soon.  Again the cost is a $35 donation for a three day conference that includes all activities and food.  And this we might see the fake Ed Brill again.

To learn more about the Omni William Penn Hotel go to:
http://http://www.omnihotels.com/FindAHotel/PittsburghWilliamPenn.aspx?cid=sd_psg_b-property

We are currently working on the MWLUG 2012 web site, but you can see what we have in store at current the MWLUG 2011, http://www.mwlug.com.

So mark your calendar and hang on to your seat.



Tuesday, January 24, 2012

My Lotusphere 2012/IBM Connect 2012 Highlights, The Good, Bad, and Ugly

This year I attended both the Lotusphere sessions and the IBM Connect sessions. I am glad that IBM has devolved a portion of the conference to business cases. We need to remember that as technologist our job depends on the business side of an organization. That is why it is important even in a technology conference that the C and VP levels are on board. However, there was too much focus on how Connections is the savoy of all.  Overall, IBM's message was more clear and concise at this Lotusphere. Food was the same including the Lotusphere cookie. I avoided as much of the breakfast as possible this year because of my low-salt diet.  It would not surprise me that one breakfast exceed your total allocation of salt per day twice over. The Sunday party was average with the quality of food being average.

The Good
  • Meeting all my Lotus colleagues
  • Meeting new Lotus colleagues
  • Mike J Fox's Opening Session Presentation
  • Guy Kawasaki's Opening Session Presentation at IBM Connect 2012
  • MWLUG Gathering on Tuesday, 17 fellow Lotus Geeks and Beer. What can I say. Russ Mather thanks for the beer.
  • The incorporation of OpenSocial technology into the next version of Domino
  • Social Mail client, (just make the iNotes client the official client for Domino)
  • The Notes plugin for the iNotes client
  • A chance at the Ask the Developer to request the ability for ISVs to create custom XWork/Domino installation packages. Contact me if you are interested. Need to create enough interest.
  • More business focused sessions.

The Bad
This year unlike previous years, I entered in most of the showcase vendor raffles, but
  • I lost the GBS Kindle Fire and I was so close, I woman who pick just before me won 
  • Losing the iPad, iPhone, iPod, HTC Tablet Pro raffle
  • Social Business for SMB session was only opened to the press. It would have been nice if Business Partners can attend given that the Business Partners are the one in the trenches in the SMB market. 
  • As the organizer of MWLUG I know how hard it is to organize an event like Lotusphere, but would it hurt to have the old used Lotusphere signs on the highway exits to point to the auxiliary parking. Many went to Blizzard Beach instead and waste an hour of travel time including myself. 
  • The bad PR disaster that IBM created with Andrew's and Gabriel's session
  • WiFi was down and down so many times
  • The attendance was down definitely. Many I know did not attend.  There was so many IBMers that I figure 50% of the attendees that I past by or met were IBMers.
  • The 750 to 1000 students got preferred seating in the front
  • Too many Connections sessions

The Ugly
  • An ingrained images of a naked Darren Duke twittering during the OGS. 
  • Interface for SocialBizOnline.com 
Now that Lotusphere 2012 is over, the detailed planning for MWLUG begins.  Mark your calendar, August 15-17, 2012, Pittsburgh, PA.

Friday, January 6, 2012

MWLUG Community Gathering at Lotusphere 2012

If are or would like to be part of the MWLUG community, come and join us at the annual MWLUG Community Gathering at Lotusphere/IBM Connect 2012. As usual it will be held at the ESPN Club at the Broadwalk on Tuesday, January 17th at 9:00 PM. I will be wearing my MWLUG 2011 T-shirt and will have a few to given away if you are new to the MWLUG 2011 community or do not have one. See everyone at Lotusphere.

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