DominoPoint's DDay was a huge success
Tags: DominoPoint Travel
Italian Lotus user group DominoPoint's second annual Domino Day conference ("DDay2") was a huge success by all measures. The one-day on October 10 event included two tracks, fourteen speakers, approximately 400 participants, and a dozen vendors. Like Paul Mooney's ILUG and Warren Elsmore's UKLUG, this free event to attendees was entirely sponsored by vendors. Free admission drives up attendance, and then everyone wins.
Event planning
The organizers (Giuseppe Grasso, Daniele Grillo, Claudio Meregalli) worked the budget magically to cover everything, including hired help for most of the onsite labor. Thanks to Davide Pannuto and his IBM team for covering speaker hotel rooms. Even Lotusphere doesn't offer that perk. DominoPoint also covered a very impressive lunch, even by Italian standards. Easily the best food in the Lotus conference community. By the way, I learned that when talking about food Italians qualify each type of food with the specific region of Italy from which it originated. And at the speaker dinner I learned -- and should have already known from my past travels -- that some restaurants serve upwards of 8 or 9 courses! I was warned of this when, at about course five, it became apparent to others that I was not pacing myself very well! But that was one of the best dinners I've had in Italy, and I've had quite a few.
Language challenges
The fact that it was entirely in Italian (except for my session and one vendor session) made it one of the most unique Lotus events I've attended. This was truly the quintessence of a country-level users group conference. The all-Italian participant roster represented every region of Italy. And it's the only major Lotus event in Italian. By the way, in light of that factor, I am particularly thankful to my fellow speakers who, whenever we were hanging out, were quick to translate to me or switch to English!
The peninsular country of Italy doesn't get a lot of "thru traffic", so Italians tend to understand less English than do people from central and north western Europe. However, the good news for an English speaking presenter such as myself is that Italian Lotus developers and administrators all understand at least some English. This is because, despite the Italian Notes Client, the Designer and Admin Clients and their help doc are available in English only. Here are my tips for presenting in English as a foreigner.
Personal note
Some of the DominoPoint bloggers have since referred to me in their post-conference write-ups as their "guest star" at DominoDay, but I'm no different than them. I have my specialty, and like to present on it. The difference is that they were willing to let me speak in some foreign language : ). So for that reason, it was a real honor and privilege to be the only non-Italian at the event. The speakers and attendees were all very friendly, and I have a bunch of new friends in one of my favorite countries. Special thanks to Giuseppe Grasso for scouting me at ILUG, asking me to speak, and making it happen. I had a great time, and next year I'll definitely be interested in speaking again.
Below are my DominoDay slides on Fixing Domino Application Performance. Key points are in Italian (thanks to translation help from Daniele Vistalli and Cristian D'Aloisio), but most of the details are in English. Also, here is an all-English version that includes these same slides and more.
Italian Lotus user group DominoPoint's second annual Domino Day conference ("DDay2") was a huge success by all measures. The one-day on October 10 event included two tracks, fourteen speakers, approximately 400 participants, and a dozen vendors. Like Paul Mooney's ILUG and Warren Elsmore's UKLUG, this free event to attendees was entirely sponsored by vendors. Free admission drives up attendance, and then everyone wins.
Event planning
The organizers (Giuseppe Grasso, Daniele Grillo, Claudio Meregalli) worked the budget magically to cover everything, including hired help for most of the onsite labor. Thanks to Davide Pannuto and his IBM team for covering speaker hotel rooms. Even Lotusphere doesn't offer that perk. DominoPoint also covered a very impressive lunch, even by Italian standards. Easily the best food in the Lotus conference community. By the way, I learned that when talking about food Italians qualify each type of food with the specific region of Italy from which it originated. And at the speaker dinner I learned -- and should have already known from my past travels -- that some restaurants serve upwards of 8 or 9 courses! I was warned of this when, at about course five, it became apparent to others that I was not pacing myself very well! But that was one of the best dinners I've had in Italy, and I've had quite a few.
Language challenges
The fact that it was entirely in Italian (except for my session and one vendor session) made it one of the most unique Lotus events I've attended. This was truly the quintessence of a country-level users group conference. The all-Italian participant roster represented every region of Italy. And it's the only major Lotus event in Italian. By the way, in light of that factor, I am particularly thankful to my fellow speakers who, whenever we were hanging out, were quick to translate to me or switch to English!
The peninsular country of Italy doesn't get a lot of "thru traffic", so Italians tend to understand less English than do people from central and north western Europe. However, the good news for an English speaking presenter such as myself is that Italian Lotus developers and administrators all understand at least some English. This is because, despite the Italian Notes Client, the Designer and Admin Clients and their help doc are available in English only. Here are my tips for presenting in English as a foreigner.
Personal note
Some of the DominoPoint bloggers have since referred to me in their post-conference write-ups as their "guest star" at DominoDay, but I'm no different than them. I have my specialty, and like to present on it. The difference is that they were willing to let me speak in some foreign language : ). So for that reason, it was a real honor and privilege to be the only non-Italian at the event. The speakers and attendees were all very friendly, and I have a bunch of new friends in one of my favorite countries. Special thanks to Giuseppe Grasso for scouting me at ILUG, asking me to speak, and making it happen. I had a great time, and next year I'll definitely be interested in speaking again.
Below are my DominoDay slides on Fixing Domino Application Performance. Key points are in Italian (thanks to translation help from Daniele Vistalli and Cristian D'Aloisio), but most of the details are in English. Also, here is an all-English version that includes these same slides and more.
Magee
Dday2 Fixing App Performance Italiano
View
SlideShare presentation
or Upload
your own.
Tags: 
