Re: Oracle Open World Opinions?

In article <3284C36B.460C_at_gte.net>, dsscott_at_gte.net says...
>
>I just got back from Oracle Open World in San Francisco and would be
>interested in what other attendees thought of the conference. This was
>the first one I had been to and I was a little disappointed that there
>wasn't more technical information available. Other people I have talked
>to said that IOUW usually has more technical info. This year the
>proceedings came on CD-ROM (I've seen previous years and was glad I
>didn't have to lug them home) and I haven't had a chance to look at them
>yet, but some people at the conference said not all the papers are on
>the CD-ROM. If this is true does anyone know where to get the rest?
>
>Overall I was still glad I went, but I think IOUW should stay seperated
>from Oracle's commercial campaigns (Oracle Open World).
>
>Douglas Scott
>dsscott_at_gte.net

I was a bit disappointed too. I really hated the way they kept us captive every morning for the General Session with no other available options. They should have taken a poll to determine which sessions or topics would be most popular so that they could have been offered more than once. It was sometimes difficult to decide which session to go to if they were scheduled at the same time. It also would have been nice to have some sort of rating system relative to technical audience target (novice, intermediate, expert....). The written descriptions for the sessions were not always accurate.

As with most of these conferences, there were some good sessions and some bad. I lucked out and found myself in more good than bad. Dollar for dollar, i get much more value being able to hit many different sessions, getting exposure to many different methods and ideas and being able to network with so many people. It beats sitting a one classroom for a week by a long shot.

The proceedings on the CD are not quite complete. They did have copy facilities at the conference where you could purchase copies of all the handouts for each session. They were $1 each, but the fee was waived if you attended the session or could not get in because it was full. I got all the copies I wanted for $0. (I don't think this service was well advertised).

I'm glad I went too. I think IOUW and ORACLE should keep the conferences combined. It helps keep both organizations honest and gives broader coverage for both the technical and non-technical folks. The Exhibit area was great and the Wednesday PM Event was wonderful as was the Oracle Masters Event on Tuesday PM.
Looking forward to Dallas and maybe LA.

Hans Lutz
hlutz_at_cfomail.attmail.com Received on Sat Nov 09 1996 - 00:00:00 CET