Sessions!
Education!
Influence!
Networking!
What Would Dawn Do?
Way back in December, we knew we had plenty of material for a great SAP users group conference. Perhaps the abstract list was fuller in some areas, slimmer in others, but we could adjust. Maybe the times of sessions would be pulled this way and that, as event planners from the user community jostled with executives from the corporation. We'd work it out. It could be that there are one or two hours of keynotes more than we care to listen to - just give it to us on a podcast or YouTube video and we'll check it out. What we're looking for is the human element, the body language from another customer when we ask whether the latest patch set does all that was promised.
I signed up for 2 sessions. Speaking, that is. The remainder of the time I'll be listening to my peers, and to experts in their areas.
My first session is right after the first (or is it the second?) keynote. I'll be leading a community group that is rather small yet diverse. Mobile technology. We will be joined by Louenas Hamdi of SAP, winner of the SAP TechEd Berlin 2008 Demo Jam, my co-worker Manju Venkateseshan and a crowd looking for insights into technology trends. I am working through last-minute results of our third mobility survey, plus we have a few additional questions to ask for audience participation.
My second session, on sustainability, is the first slot on Wednesday, after the second (or third, or fourth) keynote. It's not a standard education session, and will be held on the show floor, specifically in the ASUG community lounge. More information is available on the SCN wiki page:
Environment and Sustainability at ASUG 2009
There's also a conference sustainability overview page online here:
Sustainability Initiatives
My schedule is pretty full; since the online agenda builder lacks a few necessities (ability to download to Excel, ability to add non-structured events such as lunch or dinner, mapping functionality) and takes too many clicks to get to, I built a one page view for myself, and for others to see:
http://www.editgrid.com/user/jspath55/ASUG-ANNUAL-CONFERENCE-2009-SPATH
The second tab lists a few vendors I want to see, with the booth numbers pulled from the online map here:
https://www.sapevents.com/SAP/SAPPHIRE2009/floorplan/exhibitor/
To get details on a specific session, change the last 4 digits of this URL to the session code:
http://www.agendasap.com/agenda/usa2009/sessionsearch.epx?eventtype=2&sessioncode=4907
Thanks to Gretchen Lindquist for the idea of pulling short cuts from the agenda builder to access content. My standard agenda builder has a lot of sessions I won't be able to attend, but probably want to ask someone else who attended, and maybe grab the presentation for perusal.
We have had a few last minute schedule changes, so check the updated agenda builder as well as on-site announcements to make sure your schedule stays full.
Background blogs
By the way
There are still 2 full work days left for those last minute "can you go to these sessions" instructions to roll in. The SAP Mentors had a call Wednesday with a bit of that, including a promise of yet another list of "must go" meetings. Hope all my clones survive!
