Some Lotusphere 2010 thoughts

September 17 2009

In the next few days, the "call for abstracts" will go live for Lotusphere 2010.  Registration will open in the next two weeks.  [Yes, I know that there is a live registration form available if you know the URL -- what I can tell you is that it is not wired on the back end yet.  I am not sure how that link was discovered, but it's not a live link on the Lotusphere website.  So no need to get anxious -- we'll get there soon enough.]

For 2010, I've decided to continue in my role as content team emeritus advisor.  The Lotusphere content team is very strong and know exactly what they are doing; but working on Lotusphere is very much a Hotel California -- you can check out, but you can never leave.  I'm looking forward to seeing the breadth and depth of proposals we receive in the next few weeks.  Besides, I do have my own track to manage this year.

Some format changes are in store for 2010.  First, speedgeeking and Lotusphere Idol! will become official "tracks" in terms of the call for abstracts.  This will elevate each of them to visibility beyond the blogs and those "in the know".  Another change for 2010 is that there will be the return of a "mini" customer presentations track; these will be more focused on the "how" than the "why" aspects of customer use of Lotus solutions.  Watch for details when the site goes live.

An overall objective for the content team for 2010 is to pull back on the throttle.  One common soundbite from LS2009 feedback was that there was too much great content.  We passed the point of "I love having all of this available" to "I am pissed off that I didn't get to see the two other great sessions that were running in this time slot".  This is a very careful and delicate walk, but at least we are stating it as an objective up front.

All the regular tracks will be back.  External speakers tend to end up primarily in the best practices, show&tell, and jumpstart tracks (along with the new Idol, Speedgeeking, and customer tracks).  If you are thinking of submitting an abstract, here is my US 2ยข on how to get your abstract seriously considered:

  • For me personally, nothing turns me off more from considering a session than a sense of entitlement.  Blogging/tweeting/posting about why your submissions should have been accepted in years' past -- the content team has a collectively very long memory.  Blogging now about why you have a great idea and are sure you'll be there -- well, the same.  I am not suggesting that Lotusphere is all a back room, who-you-know kind of deal -- see my next point on this -- but for sure, the content team does not like to see their decisions or perspectives challenged in public.
  • Build your resume.  I am constantly amazed at the number of submissions we receive for Lotusphere speakers who have never spoken at another Lotus-focused conference.  We have had at least a dozen conferences over the last few months around the world -- and more coming -- the speaking opportunities are out there.  You should be able to demonstrate that you are a proven speaker or, at a minimum, proven subject-matter expert in order to be seriously considered.  The best practices track managers are always looking for new talent, but some name recognition will really help set you apart.  This is, by the way, why we do Lotusphere Idol! -- to discover yet more new talent.
  • Pick a topic that is relevant and appropriate.  Every year, I see submissions like "All about Lotus Notes Traveler" or "What's new in Notes 8.5.1".  If you read the title of your abstract from the perspective of someone scanning the conference guide, you'll quickly get a sense as to whether the topic is one that Lotusphere attendees would expect to be delivered by IBM or by an external speaker.  As for appropriate, your topic should relate to Lotus solutions directly.  We always get abstracts from someone who wants to talk about another technology or solution, not connected to Lotus software.  That's a quick way to get hit with the reject button.
  • Be creative.  While there are some sessions that have a long Lotusphere heritage, and we do deliberately repeat and update year on year, a lot of what the track managers are looking for is fresh ideas.  

By the way, none of this is meant to discourage or dampen the enthusiasm in the community.  I am trying to help you with the best ways to increase your chances for consideration.  There are a lot of factors, and a lot of track managers and consultants, so there is no one simple and perfect formula.

Looking forward to Orlando -- for so many reasons -- for Lotusphere 2010!

Ed Brill | Highland Park, IL USA Category:  LS10 Lotusphere  Add/View Comments [11]

Post a Comment

  1. 1  Bill  | 9/17/2009 2:48:10 PM

    How about a session on getting PHBs to approve going to Lotusphere?

  1. 2  Craig Wiseman http://www.Wiseman.La/cpw | 9/17/2009 4:34:36 PM

    Question: Is the referenced "live registration form available if you know the URL" going to be wired into the backend and will using it now get actually get you registered?

    Or should we wait for the 'official' launch?

  1. 3  Ed Brill http://www.edbrill.com | 9/17/2009 5:28:21 PM

    @2 I would wait for the official launch.

  1. 4  Turtle http://www.weightlessdog.com | 9/18/2009 2:01:33 AM

    @1, the problem is, if you could go to such a session, you don't need to.

  1. 5  Andy Yiu http://www.andyyiu.com | 9/18/2009 7:59:45 AM

    Thanks for the useful tips!

  1. 6  Chad Bennett  | 9/18/2009 2:26:05 PM

    Hey Ed. I realize you are not in charge of this but the title of your blog post invited it, and because you probably know the Lotusphere people that are in charge of this:

    Some Lotusphere 2010 Thoughts: Better Working WiFi

    I'm sure the WiFi wounds of LS09 attendees healed over the summer. But now that attendees are starting to think about LS2010 I'm sure they are starting to remember the WiFi woes.

    I recommend that the Lotusphere team talk to the folks at XIRRUS. They have had great success in providing conference WiFi in highly saturated environments (such as the opening General Session). Here is some reference info:

    Xirrus Delivers

    { Link }

    Xirrus Customer Deployments - Conference Centers

    { Link }

    No, I don't sell Xirrus. I'm just passionate about Lotusphere. :)

  1. 7  Michael Tennefoss http://www.arubanetworks.com | 9/21/2009 4:08:16 PM

    Aruba Networks is also a good choice for conference Wi-Fi, having supported Black Hat, DefCon, previous Interops, and this year's EDUCAUSE show. Supports very high user density, self-tuning operation, plus world-class security.

  1. 8  Chad Frisby http://www.xirrus.com | 10/4/2009 8:21:38 AM

    Mike @ Aruba - while your trying to sell ocean-front property in Arizona to the nice team responsible for Lotusphere (i.e. Positioning Aruba as Density Architecture) - why don't you expand on the success you had at Interop Las Vegas 2008, how many Interop show's you have been selected for as a WLAN vendor, and just how many AP's you ended up using to cover the 1.5M square feet event space last year at Interop Las Vegas - north of 150 AP's?

    Ed -

    Xirrus has done the official Interop show floor Wi-Fi for 4 years and every time it has worked flawlessly - Please check with the Interop Network Folks - we can provide POC's there.

    OABTW - we have never covered the main show floor at Interop with more that 4 Arrays - and the entire convention with a total of 15 Arrays - to cover thousands of users and hundreds of VoWi-Fi phones simultaneously.

    Please also have a look at the Recent Microsoft Events Press Release "Microsoft Events Selects Xirrus to Deliver Ultra-High Density Wi-Fi" { Link }

    Supporting hundreds or thousands of users with very few devices can be done - just make sure to do you homework for the next Lotusphere event.

    P.S. - Xirrus is installed throughout the entirety of the Disney Swan and Dolphin Hotel Rooms (Unfortunately not the event space - which is covered by a third party using Cisco AP's)

    Chad

  1. 9  Michael ArubaFailure http://www.univ-bordeaux.fr/ | 10/4/2009 9:47:10 AM

    Dear Mr. Tennefuss.

    I'm not sure what is your position @Aruba, but clearly you don't know what you are talking about.

    We are using Aruba system in our university(through Alcatel OEM) and it was a complete disaster since day one.

    It's not supporting high density spaces, not even mentioning ultra high density such as conference rooms and auditoriums.

    The above mentioned "self-tuning" option is not working well and we needed to configure everything manually.

    The local support is awful, Alcatel people don't know how to operate Aruba equipment.

    And above all - your "world class security" is a complete fraud!!! When we tried to operate SSIDs with WPA encryption, the performance of the networks dropped by 65% in average!!!

    We made a big mistake choosing Aruba and I hope you seize telling lies to other customers!

  1. 10  Simon Hollister  | 3/12/2010 10:56:40 AM

    Hey Marketing Mike at Aruba, why don't you mention the College in England wich has halted its Aruba deployment 80% of the way in because it has hit capacity already. I do work for Xirrus and we rip and replace your networks all the time. You make great equipment for coverage ion an office but density ios not your game. Persistant manipulation of facts has made anything released from Aruba suspect and the market place now sees through your PowerPoints.

  1. 11  Keith Burtons  | 10/28/2010 3:53:01 PM

    Simon, Why dont you mention the college? Because it doesnt exist.....?!