LOTUSphere and content

August 29 2004

Well, it seems it is never too early to start discussing the content for the next Lotusphere.  The call for abstracts hasn't even been issued yet; the nominations for Lotus Awards aren't open (though they will be this week); the registration site is up but not formally announced; heck, it isn't even Labor Day yet.  Oh, but the stores are selling Halloween stuff -- even rows upon rows of greeting cards, what's up with that?
So, I guess it is as good a time as any to start thinking about Lotusphere 2005.
e-Pro ran a poll recently about plans to attend Lotusphere '05.  The results were posted over the weekend.  The majority of votes were for "Wish I could go, but I can't."  In a lot of cases, it's the still-typical corporate training/conference budget restrictions.  Disappointing, but not much I can do to fix this (though I'm open to ideas).  Some others expressed specific reasons for not wanting to attend, including this e-Pro reader:

While there was "enough" Notes/Domino content at Lotusphere last year it was painfully clear where IBM wants its customers to go - WebSphere. Yes, they pay excellent lip service to "customer choice" and they have, so far, done a good job supporting and extending the Notes/Domino platform. But let's face it, if you compare the marketing efforts behind each product line...
I won't make my mind up regarding attending in 2005 until I know more about the content. If the trend continues as it has over the past several years the Notes/Domino content might comprise less than 40% of the conference. If that is true I'm not sure I can justify the expense to my employer. Like I said, Lotusphere 2004 had "enough" Notes/Domino content but I didn't miss anything I wanted to see and there were a few slots where I got to go to the Vendor Showcase without feeling "guilty".
It's an interesting observation.  Now, my first instinct is to get defensive about the idea that "IBM wants its customers to go [to] WebSphere".  There was a period of time where I understood how this impression got created in the market, but less so now.  Rather than get defensive, I assert that IBM will use the content and tracks at Lotusphere 2005, along with the 2005 release of Notes/Domino 7, to prove otherwise.
The commitment has already been made in writing -- there will be more Notes/Domino content at Lotusphere 2005 than at Lotusphere 2004.  I am reprising some of my track management responsibilities for 2005 -- and remember, it's now my sole responsibility to think about how to continue the success of Notes/Domino in the market.  So, here are some specific actions you can take now or plan on soon --
  • Think about whether you have a story that might be interesting to share at Lotusphere 2005 in the customer success stories track.  I also am still seeking organizations that have upgraded to Notes/Domino 6 and would like to be interviewed for a total cost of ownership study; could be interesting to tie these two thoughts together.  E-mail me @ work (ed_brill at us.ibm.com) with thoughts here.
  • Rocky Oliver continues in his role as content team external member-at-large in 2005.  On his blog, he's already asking for input on the "Best Practices" track.  Go read.  My personal opinion is that R5 content should be a fairly small percentage at LS05, which is why I was asking a few weeks ago.
  • I'm hoping to feature a greater diversity of speakers in the core infrastructure track sessions on Notes/Domino for 2005.  If you think you might have kewl content for that track, start thinking about an abstract now.  I'd love to have 10x more submissions for 2005 and have some really hard decisions to make about which sessions to accept.
  • And last, provide proactive feedback.  If registration is going to be contingent on great content, I promise you, I want to provide great content.  That means knowing what you want to hear.  This is my fourth go at the content team, so I think I have good instincts on the best people and subjects for Lotusphere -- but your perspectives are invaluable.  Speak.  Now, while it's early in the process.
Last caveat -- remember, folks, it's Lotusphere, not Notesphere.  The agenda is shared with other Lotus products, and yes, some other IBM products, too.  If you are looking for a pure Notes event, this ain't it.  Maybe there is something else for you.  Libby asks a good question on the e-Pro Informer: "is there anything that you think could help make up for the fact that you'll miss the show? "

Ed Brill | Highland Park, IL USA Category:  Lotusphere 05  Add/View Comments [15]

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  1. 1  Andrew Pollack http://www.thenorth.com/apblog | 8/29/2004 11:31:41 PM

    From what I'm reading about the Workplace and Workplace client, these products are a very long way from any kind of real merger.

    Workplace -- particularly with a well built application utilzing the Workplace Rich Client -- is going to fill a very nice gap in IBM's offerings for line-worker applications like telemarketing, helpdesk, customer services, and customer facing retail applications. Notes is way too heavy for many of these roles that in years past would have been done with a 3270 terminal. The browser hasn't been good enough to fill that role though. A solid j2ee based backend with a managed client as described in the current white papers will do well there.

    At the knowledge worker's desk though, there's a long way to go and no currently published "easy migration" path (unless you consider portlet wrappers an "easy migration").

    There's no threat to Notes here for at least a couple of years, IMO.

  1. 2  Simon  | 8/30/2004 7:36:18 AM

    I'd love to fly across the Atlantic to attend but it won't happen this year. So in a word... webcasts. Lots of them too; not just the opening session.

  1. 3  Carl http://www.iminstant.com | 8/30/2004 1:51:14 PM

    I will obviously be pushing for a lot of Sametime sessions :-)

    It would be great to have the sessions recorded and available on DVD so you can see the sessions that you couldn't attend as you were in some other cool session. It's expensive to do, but a great option. Also helps presenters in the later lotusphere comes to you roadshow.

  1. 4  Christopher Byrne http://www.controlscaddy.com/ | 8/30/2004 2:20:59 PM

    Carl,

    Interesting suggestion about the DVD thingy. I have wondered myself why last year's Sphere was not published in DVD instead of video. I asked the production company and they mentioned the expense. I think expense is in the eye of the beholder as I would prefer DVD copies. But then you get into the whole file-sharing thingy...

  1. 5  Ben Langhinrichs http://www.GeniiSoft.com/showcase.nsf/GeniiBlog | 8/30/2004 2:22:27 PM

    While I know you ask asking more about the content itself, I would strongly agree that your time might be very well spent convincing IBM to tape and distribute sessions. If the bigger point is to push Lotus products, what better way than to ensure people can access that content, rather than having it vanish when Lotusphere ends?

  1. 6  Mark Dopita  | 8/30/2004 2:35:35 PM

    Agree wholeheartedly on creating DVD of sessions. After all, a person can only be in one place at any one time. There's no way I could attend every session I wanted to last year, and downloading the presentation materials only goes so far. . . .

  1. 7  Ed Brill www.edbrill.com | 8/30/2004 4:04:20 PM

    Alright, alright -- DULY NOTED on the DVD issue... anyone have any thoughts on the content? :)

  1. 8  Richard Schwartz http://smokey.rhs.com/web/blog/rhs.nsf | 8/30/2004 6:33:45 PM

    Ed, perhaps, we could give SMB (and/or partners who truly specialize in SMB) a really good reason to go to Domino. How about a set of sessions -- a "mini-track" so to speak, that focuses in on the SMB sector in a very how-to fashion? I wouldn't actually put it this way, but the subtext would be "how to run your entire businsss on Domino". OK, maybe not the whole business, but more of it than conventional wisdom says you can. The point being that for an SMB, Domino can be a very substantial investment -- even at express pricing -- so let's look way beyond email, beyond collaboration even, at some of the ways small businesses can maximimize their investment. Along the way, we would even explode some of the myths about "you can't do that in Domino". Obviously, the success of such a track would depend on your ability to attract SMB customers (and partners) to Lotusphere, but it's a thought.

    -rich

  1. 9  Alan Bell http://www.dominux.co.uk | 8/31/2004 6:09:15 AM

    it is great that the 2005 discussion is getting going, perhaps I will be knocked off the top slot of google!

    { Link }

  1. 10  Axel nc-jansseax@netcologne.de | 8/31/2004 6:23:41 AM

    1. A session for IBM personal to write customer/business partner friendly installation routines.

    Just have installed was5.1 info center from

    { Link }

    Wonder how anyone without some knowledge with eclipse plug-in dev can figure out to put those documents downloads in the plug-in folder. Not to mention installation of WAS-Portal server.

    Buy some Microsoft trainers. It can't be that hard.

    2. Psychological Help session for those who've run their Domino on OS/390 and those who've used Domino Workflow

    Give them a drum when they enter the room and let them shout with loud voice: "I am not stupid, it just does not work properly." :-)

    3. Invite current EJB 3.0 spec lead Gavin King and let him tell how one can have fun programming Java without starting all those Portal Servers, WAS-Servers, EJB Test Clients or whatever. :-)

    regards Axel

  1. 11  Mark Dopita  | 8/31/2004 7:41:43 AM

    We're currently looking at three Portal products. As an SAP shop, we're probably going in that direction. We've got quite a few applications written in Domino that will be moved to the Portal, and we're new-comers to Java, so I'd like to see sessions on writing JSR 168-compliant portlets for Domino apps using software other than WebSphere.

  1. 12  Carl http://www.iminstant.com | 8/31/2004 7:44:01 AM

    Sametime Deep Dive Administration/Best Practises on

    * Best practise for configuring Lotus Instant Messaging within different networks

    * Configuring Sametime for firewall support

    * Configuring and using the Sametime SIP Gateway

    * Sametime Scalability, how we tested, what results we got

  1. 13  Nancy  | 8/31/2004 8:46:50 AM

    As a Lotus Notes "user" I would like to see more Knowledge Management content that would help those of us who use Notes(and possibly Workplace)for documentation and technical writing purposes. A few more business-oriented sessions would be helpful.

    When I attended my first Lotusphere four years ago, there were sessions that addressed this topic and they were helpful. The sessions now seem to be more technically oriented. We would be interested in seeing how the new products could help us design better documentation for our customers. Case Studies would also be very helpful for us.

  1. 14  Nanook  | 8/31/2004 1:43:33 PM

    I would be interested in some content regarding the legacy of the Domino Everyplace product line. I didn't see anything at all about them last year, the product team seems to have been scattered, and there was no real info that I could see.

    In my company the mobile PDA and Blackberry area is really taking off, and the Lotus offerings seem a little behind the times and very poorly promoted. Looking at the lotus.com/dominoeveryplace brings up the same info that was there over a year and a half ago -- and no future direction or updates seem to be mentioned either.

  1. 15  Christopher Byrne http://www.controlscaddy.com/ | 8/31/2004 2:33:39 PM

    I posted this on my blog and welcome people's feedback/thoughts as well:

    { Link }

    "Would a Session on Licensing Requirements/Options be Useful?Comments

    Suppose, hypothetically, you were attending a major vendor conference (does not matter what vendor, but maybe it could be one that meets every year in Orlando). Would you find, or do you think other attendees would find, a session on that vendor's software licensing options and requirements would be a well atennded and/or useful session?

    The session would..."