I haven't bLogged in 3 months; it mUst be something biG...
Tags: ILUG
If you didn't catch the subliminal title text, that big thing is the Irish Lotus Users Group 2008 conference, from which I just returned last night. Yes, lots has been written on ILUG in the Lotus online community in the past few days. But I gotta write my 0.02 Euros, too, because it was just that amazing.
Ingredients included: a perfect venue, excellent speakers and topics, right-sized exhibitor exposure, perfect weather, a scary Dutch balloon sculpting security guard, and the tireless and careful work of an amazing panel of volunteer organizers lead by conference visionary Paul Mooney and onsite logistics queen Eileen Fitzgerald. The venue really was perfect. A full bar (with live broadcast French Open tennis) in the conference center kept everyone mingling throughout the week, day and night. The size of the attendance and venue itself were just right and very key in my opinion. Unlimited networking opportunities, yet you could find anyone in no time. Knowledge gained, relationships made. Truly a right-sized conference. This was summer camp for Lotus professionals.
Because of Paul's insistence on keeping it a free conference like last year, the attendance this year had surged upward of 400 delegates representing dozens of countries. These kind of numbers attract big sponsorship dollars, which paid for virtually everything. And to make it really worthwhile for these critically important sponsors, Paul conceived "Speed Sponsoring". As a frequent exhibitor myself (and now really wishing I had exhibited our stuff at ILUG), let me tell you that giving one's pitch to nearly everyone, and in small groups, is an exhibitor's dream. As they say in proper English, "brilliant!". Paul's innovative and selfless conference model combines the intimacy of a typical local user group meeting with the critical mass of a bigger show, all of which benefits both attendees and sponsors. In fact, other Lotus user groups adopting ILUG's "right-sized" conference model from last year have already found similar success in the UK, Italy, and elsewhere. Look for more.
One challenge ILUG will have next year is to do it again without the organizers themselves burning out (not that they necessarily did this year). I was happy to volunteer a day to help setup, and I'd do it again. But I don't think it's possible to do what the organizers did, for many days, weeks, and months prior without some of them possibly dying. If the early exhibitor sell-out date this year was any indication of vendor demand, perhaps ILUG can increase the sponsorship revenue enough to outsource a little more hired help next year.
Pictures can be found on Flickr. Mine own are here.
If you didn't catch the subliminal title text, that big thing is the Irish Lotus Users Group 2008 conference, from which I just returned last night. Yes, lots has been written on ILUG in the Lotus online community in the past few days. But I gotta write my 0.02 Euros, too, because it was just that amazing.
Ingredients included: a perfect venue, excellent speakers and topics, right-sized exhibitor exposure, perfect weather, a scary Dutch balloon sculpting security guard, and the tireless and careful work of an amazing panel of volunteer organizers lead by conference visionary Paul Mooney and onsite logistics queen Eileen Fitzgerald. The venue really was perfect. A full bar (with live broadcast French Open tennis) in the conference center kept everyone mingling throughout the week, day and night. The size of the attendance and venue itself were just right and very key in my opinion. Unlimited networking opportunities, yet you could find anyone in no time. Knowledge gained, relationships made. Truly a right-sized conference. This was summer camp for Lotus professionals.
Because of Paul's insistence on keeping it a free conference like last year, the attendance this year had surged upward of 400 delegates representing dozens of countries. These kind of numbers attract big sponsorship dollars, which paid for virtually everything. And to make it really worthwhile for these critically important sponsors, Paul conceived "Speed Sponsoring". As a frequent exhibitor myself (and now really wishing I had exhibited our stuff at ILUG), let me tell you that giving one's pitch to nearly everyone, and in small groups, is an exhibitor's dream. As they say in proper English, "brilliant!". Paul's innovative and selfless conference model combines the intimacy of a typical local user group meeting with the critical mass of a bigger show, all of which benefits both attendees and sponsors. In fact, other Lotus user groups adopting ILUG's "right-sized" conference model from last year have already found similar success in the UK, Italy, and elsewhere. Look for more.
One challenge ILUG will have next year is to do it again without the organizers themselves burning out (not that they necessarily did this year). I was happy to volunteer a day to help setup, and I'd do it again. But I don't think it's possible to do what the organizers did, for many days, weeks, and months prior without some of them possibly dying. If the early exhibitor sell-out date this year was any indication of vendor demand, perhaps ILUG can increase the sponsorship revenue enough to outsource a little more hired help next year.
Pictures can be found on Flickr. Mine own are here.
Some
guy from the UK asked Alton Brown to suggest fast food options for vegetarians.
Alton replied that there aren't any veg fast food options. But
Alton didn't know that Burger King is the only restaurant to claim they
offer a 
