Archive for the ‘Industry Events’ Category

Cisco Live 2011 Highlights

Posted August 5, 2011
Filed under: Cisco, Industry Events, Video | Tags: , ,
* Comments (12)

Well, on this first Friday of the new Fiscal Year, I had a few minutes to catch up on things.  One was to watch the Cisco Live 2011 Highlights video.  I happened to be up in Las Vegas supporting some of my accounts during the event (Vegas is a part of my territory).  Being new to Cisco,  I have to say that I was surprised as to how *BIG* Cisco Live really was.

It was being held at The Mandalay Bay, where I have attended INTEROP the last several years.  So I thought it was roughly the same size in terms of size and scope.  Wowers – I was *way* off.  Cisco Live was much bigger and more comprehensive.  In all fairness, I didn’t actually attend the event, but I can tell you in terms of signage, space, and presence of attendees, I was impressed.

By the way, since I wasn’t an attendee, I didn’t get one of the cool Cisco Live backpacks.  Let me know if you want to send one my way…

Pay close attention to the video around the 1:07 mark.  I believe you’ll catch a glimpse of Wi-Fi juggernaut, Andrew vonNagy (@revolutionwifi).

Vegas! Who’s With Me?

Posted May 25, 2011
Filed under: Industry Events | Tags: , , , , , ,
* Leave a comment

I am making the trek up to Las Vegas tomorrow to attend Forrester’s 2011 IT Forum.   The event actually starts today and runs through Friday.  It is being held at The Palazzo (which is part of The Venetian Hotel and Casino).

In year’s past, Forrester has used UStreamto broadcast many of the keynotes across the internet.  I don’t have the specifics, but it’s worth a search, when keynote presentations run from 8:30 – 12:30 Pacific Time (Friday morning keynotes end at 10:05).  Personally, Friday morning’s keynotes are of particular interest.  The first is titled “iPads And Torches And Droids — Oh My! Mobile’s Not In Kansas Anymore“.  That is followed up by another session called “Killing The Laptop: How IT Solutions Amplify Business Productivity On Tablets and Smartphones”.

After the morning keynotes, the afternoons are packed with 3-4 sets of track sessions.  The track that really jumps out at me so far is one called “Transform Processes That Touch Your Customers”.  It has sessions on topics such as next-gen CRM and customer service through social technologies.

The content is spot on.  For example, last year, I heard Ted Shadler speak about his book, Empowered, which mentions the rise of four key technologies: social, mobile, cloud, and video.  In my opinion, those four areas absolutely dominated the IT mindset in the past year, and are only growing in importance.

Like any conference, beyond the actual content, one of the most valuable aspects of attending are the networking opportunities.   In the past, Forrester has done a good job of trying to connect people with similar interest with role-specific ribbons to add to attendee badges.  They also put placards on the lunch tables to group people with similar interests.  Forrester also offers one-on-one meetings with their analysts — at no extra cost for attendees.

Please let me know if you are attending the forum (or happen to be in Las Vegas for something else), and would like to meet up.   If you are unable to attend, keep a look out here, my Computerworld Blog, or my Twitter stream for a recap of  what I find the most interesting and relevant.  You can also keep a tap on what’s happening at the conference with the official Twitter hashtag, which is #ITF11.

CWAP Beta Course – Recap

Posted April 19, 2011
Filed under: External Training, Industry Events, Interviews, Video | Tags: , , , , , , ,
* Comments (1)

If you read my latest posts, you already know that I attended the Certified Wireless Analysis Professional beta course hosted by the CWNP program in Atlanta, GA last week. 

I really enjoyed all the side bar discussions between attendees.  There were at least 3-4 vendors represented, as well as VARs/Integrators and enterprise wireless network administrators.    I  spoke about my favorite side-bar discussion, which was about locating wireless devices through spectrum analysis on my Computerworld blog.   

Attending the course also really reinforced what a big believer I am in the CWNP program.  It’s great to see a vendor neutral training and certification body in our field.   I really think that along with the IEEE and Wi-Fi Alliance, they have done a great job promoting and educating the community about wireless technology, which helps drive growth / adoption, which is good for everyone involved. 

Therefore, I wanted to take the time to interview one of the CWNP co-founders, Kevin Sandlin, to have him explain about the program and how it fits an emerging trend  in the marketplace:

Gestalt IT Tech Field Day

Posted August 7, 2010
Filed under: Industry Events, Social Media | Tags: , , , ,
* Comments (5)

In my last post, I highlighted one of my favorite industry events, Shmoocon.  This led to me to start thinking about and researching other events, trade shows, and the like.

One interesting website that I have been researching is Gestalt IT.   It appears that they have held several events in the last year connecting IT vendors w/ bloggers & other influencers.   It looks like their Flagship event is called the “Tech Field Day“.

I would like to know if any of my readers have participated in one of these events as either a vendor or a delegate.  What did you think — good, bad, or indifferent?!? Besides the delegates, are their other attendees?  Feel free to leave a comment or email me directly at douglas <dot> haider <at> xirrus <dot> com.

Shmoocon 2011 Announced

Posted August 5, 2010
Filed under: Industry Events, Security | Tags: , , , ,
* Leave a comment

The dates for Shmoocon 2011 were recently announced.  The annual East-coast hackers convention will be held January 28th – 30th (Friday, Saturday, Sunday)  2011.

It appears that the convention will take place at a different venue this year, the Washington Hilton Hotel.  As a Platinum Marriott member, I am a little disappointed that it won’t take place at the Wardman Park Marriott as it had in years past.

If I could tell you one thing, it’s that attendance to this event sells out FAST (literally, within minutes), so keep watching the Shmoocon website on dates and times to get your tickets.  You will have to jump on them immediately.  That being said, the majority of the weekend passes are usually available for around $75, so it’s not hard to see why they sell out so fast.

One of the best things about Shmoocon is the high quality speakers they bring in each year.  Speakers that have stuck out to me in the past include Joshua Wright and Simple Nomad.

Besides the quality content, another great reason to attend is that it is FUN.  They have lots of ancillary activities to include a “Hack or Halo” contest (hackers compete in a capture the flag contest and gamers participate in a Halo contest on the XBox 360), as well as an off-site party.

Bottom line, Shmoocon is definitely worth both your time and your money.

Attending a Conference? There’s an App for That!

Posted July 3, 2010
Filed under: Industry Events, Video | Tags: , , , ,
* Comments (1)

I just published a post on my Computerworld blog about how conferences and tradeshows of the future are incorporating more mobile and wireless technologies to provide attendees more value than ever before.

In that post, you’ll find out how cutting edge events are:

  • Extending the battery life of your mobile devices
  • Using high density Wi-Fi networks to offload bandwidth demands from cellular networks
  • Leveraging video as a way for attendees to connect & share

As a preview to that post, check out the 2 minute video I created about an iPhone app created specifically for one such  event, the Forrester IT Forum:

Forrester IT Forum

Posted May 27, 2010
Filed under: Industry Events, Professional Development | Tags: , , , , ,
* Leave a comment

I am attending the Forrester IT Forum in Las Vegas, NV this week. It is a three day event centered around Business Technology. The event has great keynote speakers (among others, today’s were from CIO of Starbucks, VP of Lean Business from Nike, and CEO of Xerox).  There are also break-out or track sessions.  There are 10 or so different tracks.  Today I attended the track for Technology Product Management & Marketing Professionals.

I am covering the event on my Computerworld blog (http://blogs.computerworld.com/haider) – In fact, I just posted my first video blog for Computerworld!   It is is about a minute long, so hop on over there and check it out!

I you want real time information, I am microblogging about the event on Twitter under the username @WiFiJedi and the hashtag #ITF10.   You can also follow Forrester on Twitter at @forrester.

Speaking Engagement *Tomorrow* 5/13 in Texas

Posted May 12, 2010
Filed under: Industry Events, Speaking Engagements | Tags: , ,
* Comments (3)

I will be speaking at the Region One Technology Education Conference in South Padre Island, TX tomorrow at 9 AM local time.

My presentation is titled “802.11n: Lessons Learned from the First 1,000 Xirrus Installations”

Session Description:

Districts making the move to 802.11n or deploying a wireless network for the first time will explore lessons learned from the past two years of over 1000 Xirrus 11n installations. Site surveys, network design, client considerations, performance results, interoperability and backwards compatibility will all be investigated.

Conference Information:

The Region One ESC Technology Conference is one of the most successful conferences in the state of Texas strictly devoted to educational technology. Our conference is carefully organized where both educators and administrators find and explore new ways to help their organizations become successful in the area of educational technology. Our conference showcases some of the latest technologies in education and provides educators and administrators in the following areas of professional growth:
  • Leadership and Administration – e-Rate Training and Technology Purchasing
  • Innovation – Web 2.0 Tools, Mobile Devices and Open Source Products
  • Teaching and Learning – Technology Education and Content Area Based Workshops
  • Technology Support and Management – Security, Data Management and Green Technologies

Here is a link to the conference website: http://www.esc1.net/129310101014405833/site/default.asp

SMX Advanced – Day 1 Recap

Posted June 3, 2009
Filed under: blogging, Industry Events, Professional Development, Security, Social Media | Tags: , , , , , ,
* Leave a comment

I was lucky enough to be up in Seattle yesterday to sit in on the sessions at SMX Advanced.   SMX stands for Search Marketing Expo and SMX Advanced is one in a series of a half dozen conferences run around the world each year.  Each of these conferences is dedicated to Search Marketing. 

My favorite session of the morning was “Twitter Tactics and Search Marketing”. There were several presenters, including Michael Gray, President, Atlas Web Service and Joanna Lord, Co-Founder & CMO, TheOnlineBeat.  

Michael was my favorite presenter of the show.  His presentation was fast paced and insightful – very difficult to put into words. He started his presentation with “There is no right or wrong way to use Twitter.  You need to determine what works for you”, which set a very down-to-Earth tone. Michael listed off what seemed like a thousand tools and tactics for twitter, but my favorite soundbite of his presentation is that “the re-tweet is Twitter gold“.  He suggested that you RT (re-tweet) the most self-serving tweets of people you want to notice you.  

Although Michael was a hard act to follow, Joanna definitely held her own.  She offered great advice with regards to Twitter use and security. She suggested the following: 

  • RESEARCH an application/tool BEFORE giving them your PASSWORD 
  • Read.The.Link.Before.You.Push!!! (reference to the use of URL shorteners and re-tweeting links)

My favorite afternoon session talked about Search Engine Rank Factors (SERFs) in 2009 and had heavyweight presenters Rand Fishkin, CEO of SEOmoz, Laura Lippay, Dir. Technical Marketing at Yahoo, and Marty Weintraub, President of aimClear. What I took away from the session was that Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is more than meta tags, inbound links, keyword density, etc.  It is about being viral, creating buzz, and creating a great product. Laura suggested asking yourself “What is it going to take to outrank our top competitor?”  Simple, yet profound.  I don’t think many people ask themselves this question. I think fewer people are disciplined enough to follow through with the actions needed to become #1.    

Besides the great educational sessions, there was an excellent vendor in conjunction with the conference.  All the large players were there such as Google, Microsoft, Facebook, and SEOmoz.  Microsoft had the most interesting booth promoting their new “Bing” search engine. I particularly liked that you could use an XBox 360 controller to control maps provided by Bing.  The best swag was provided by SEOmoz, who gave away cans of “Link Juice”.  The LinkJuice reminded me of the case of Brawndo that I bought off the Internet before Christmas (a reference to the movie Idiocracy, if you haven’t seen it). 

Unfortunately, I had to leave the conference before the evening keynote on Day 1 due to client commitments.  It looked like there were some great Day 2 sessions as well as vendor sponsored parties.  I am definitely going to keep Search Marketing Expo events on my radar over the coming year.

http://interop09.wordpress.com

Posted June 1, 2009
Filed under: Industry Events, Social Media, Xirrus |
* Leave a comment

If you didn’t catch all the fun and excitement at INTEROP Las Vegas, May 17-21… well… you missed it!  

Don’t fret just yet – Xirrus is giving you a second chance to experience all the fun!  If you have been following my blog, you probably know that Xirrus ran a “Melee at the Mandalay” campaign with Live Men’s and Women’s Boxing.  We recorded many of the matches and uploaded them to YouTube.    

Additionally, we have uploaded tons of videos (boxing, product demos, interviews, etc.), pictures, and a whole lot more to a blog located at http://interop09.wordpress.com  

Normally what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.  Not this time!  We documented all the buffoonery, to include Miss Nevada 2009 knocking out our product manager, Brian Mason (see below).  Check out the blog to see what else happened!

Related Posts:

« Older Entries