Re: Informix Users Conference

In article <1993Jul23.160216.19876@informix.com> davek@newjersey.informix.com (Dave Kosenko) writes: > >Kenny Hovanes writes: > >|> 2) The sessions covered were interesting, but a lot of the time they seemed >|> to be directed from a marketing point of view. > >Let me state from experience that it is difficult to get very technical in >45 minutes! There were a few longer sessions, and I believe those *did* get >pretty technical. I agree with both points. The sessions were keyed to appropriate audiences in the conference guide by being labeled Non-technical, Semi-technical, Technical or Very Technical. This was a good idea, but wasn't executed very effectively. While the session titles seemed to correlate well to their respective audience keys, during the actual presentations there wasn't that much difference in the level of detail between the supposed least and most technical sessions. I think the main culprit was the 45 min. time limit. I heard a number of comments, some from presenters themselves, that it was just not long enough to get into much detail. At next year's conference, I'd like to see more of the "Very Technical" topics be allotted double sessions. Theoretically, of course, the fact that a subject isn't "technical" doesn't necessarily mean that it shouldn't also be covered in detail. >|> 7) The technical ability of the Informix people doing the demos was >kinda low. > >People at the booth were not there to answer in-depth technical questions, >really. There should have been both sales and technical people available. It's been my experience that for trade shows, seminars, etc., that's usually the best approach. One of the main reasons that I can justify the time away, travel costs, and $895 just to get in the door, is that I will be able to get all of the information I need at one time and place. I don't even mind seeing a faked-up demo if I can also talk to the people who are actually building the product. All in all, I think that the conference was well worth the time and effort it took to attend. Informix should be careful of making it too much of a slick marketing event subsidized by registration fees, though. If it does, it will lose a lot of its appeal -- at least for me, anyway. Walt. -- Walt Hultgren Internet: walt@rmy.emory.edu (IP 128.140.8.1) Emory University UUCP: {...,gatech,rutgers,uunet}!emory!rmy!walt 954 Gatewood Road, NE BITNET: walt@EMORY Atlanta, GA 30329 USA Voice: +1 404 727 0648