Re: IOUG-A Live! vs. OpenWorld

On Fri, 09 Jan 1998 16:31:43 -0600, John Durst <jdurst_at_sky.net> wrote:

>I have just gotten approval from my boss to attend either IOUG-A Live!
>or Oracle OpenWorld this year. Since I don't know much about either, I
>was wondering if anyone had an opinion or either or both of these
>conferences and what they provide.
>

It really depends on what you're looking for.

The IOUG-A Live conference is sponsored primarily by the IOUG, and so is geared more toward the developer, with a greater emphasis on technical presentations and training sessions. Although there is an exhibit hall with vendor booths, there are generally much fewer than at OpenWorld, at least that was the case last year, which was the first year for IOUG-A Live. It seems that the vendors are making a conscious decision to go all out at one conference a year, and they seem to have chosen OpenWorld as the place to spend their money.

The Oracle OpenWorld conference is sponsored primarily by Oracle, and is geared more toward getting exposure for Oracle and its corporate partners, the vendors. I have not attended this conference since it became "OpenWorld" (used to be IOUW), but I understand that there are still technical presentations, but maybe more of them are from the vendors than the users. This conference is where the vendors really spend their money to entice the users. We had some people attend OpenWorld last year, and there seem to have been more vendor-sponsored parties, bigger prizes (I think Platinum gave away a car!), more goodies to take back to the co-workers, that sort of thing.

Bottom line: If you want more technical information from the users who are actually using Oracle, then IOUG-A Live is your best bet. If you want to hear the corporate propaganda, find out what they think will be hot next year, and attend some great parties, you probably want to go with IOUW.

Just my opinion. At any rate, have fun!

Grue Received on Mon Jan 12 1998 - 00:00:00 CST