Two firsts in one day. My first blog on the way to my first Lotusphere. As a director of Intec I have been aware of Lotusphere for nearly 10 years, and the first time we sent a delegate was about 7 years ago. Historically, we have tended to send Technicians or Developers who have come back educated, enlightened and enriched. As those who know me will happily point out, I am not particularly technically or development minded – apart from a little HTML knowledge, which in itself makes me quite dangerous. So, as Sales and Marketing Director of Intec, how am I going to get as much out of my attendance as my predecessors ?
Well, as our Lotus using customer base and our profile within IBM continue to grow, these are my objectives for the 5 days that I will be at Lotusphere;
1) Learning the product Roadmap for the Lotus Portfolio
This is an exciting time for all involved with Lotus, and there is a buzz around the community that I have not seen previously in our ten year partnership. I know our customers will want to know what to expect from the brand over the next 12 months, and I hope to get the latest information hot off the press.
2) Find out what works for other worldwide Business Partners
The UK Business Partner network, whilst often competitive, is generally open and supportive, however I am looking forward to talking to BP’s from around the world, something I’ve never had the opportunity to do before, to find out what technologies are being successfully adopted in their geographies, and how best to take these solutions to market.
3) Building and Strengthening relationships with Lotus/IBM
Intec are attempting to raise the bar in terms of delivering exceptional Domino web based applications. Pushing the boundaries often requires access to the experts responsible for building the platforms which we develop on – I hope Lotusphere will enable me to make those connections.
4) Raising Intec’s profile
Key to our plans for growth and fulfilling our Customers expectations will be to become known as thought leaders and subject matter experts. Networking at Lotusphere with end user companies, other Business Partners and IBM Execs will help us to fulfil this objective.
……and who knows, I may even return with a little Technical expertise, so watch out team !
As usual Lotusphere is being held at the Swan and Dolphin resort at Disney World, Orlando, which is not a bad place to spend 5 days in the English mid winter. Will I get to see Mickey Mouse ?………..probably only if he is delivering a breakout session on Xpages, and to do that he’s going to have push Tim Clark/IBM off the stage, and somehow I really can’t see that happening.
