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keohanster
Active Contributor
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Friday October 15 is when my SAPTechEd trip began, and in the week leading up to it, all my coworkers were asking me to put money down on red, or bet this, or bet that.  I am really not that much of a gambler - I double check my calendar entries, I back up my backups to backups.  And while in Las Vegas, I do admit to playing some video poker (and losing) I kept my losses to a minimum (about $40).  I will happily confess to all of you out there that I did not spend all my time gaming.  I did, however, have a lot of fun and I also learned a lot.  So I wanted to share my *Vegas Results *with you. 

*1.  Vishal Sikka is a tough act to follow.  Fullstop. *

(My first presentation was immediately following the keynote address.  Who could top that?  Not me!)

*Vegas Result: Loss *


*2.  You can never have too much preparation  - except when you do.*  Perhaps you don't need to try to launch Camtasia to show a transaction, or maybe you don't (or can't?) log in to do a live demo.  Sometimes, just sometimes, it's enough to know your material.    At least, I sure hope so.         *Vegas Result: Draw* *3. Shirts given out in hotel lobbies to luggage-less Australians may as well be counted as 'gone'.  * *Vegas Result: Ozzies 1, Yanks 0.* *4. When you tell a bunch of SCN/SAP people 'Don't touch this! I'll be right back!'* you can pretty much guarantee that something will happen.  *
* *Vegas Result: you decide!* *5.  Piano bar guys* do not know the rowdy version of 'Dirty Water' and certainly not the Dropkick Murphys 'Shipping up to Boston', no matter how many iPhones you drop in their tip jar.  They will, however, play 'Sweet Caroline' until even I am sick of the 'Boston refrain' (and for all you new yorkers, you know what I mean'.  *Vegas Result: Loss  * (On the other hand, the piano bar guys *did* return the iPhones and the American Express card that followed it.*  Vegas Result: Win )
(http://www.youtube.com/user/oswaldxxl#p/a/u/0/CUws09oDj6g)*

6. Offering swag (really good stuff, thanks to SAP-Press) along with the phrase 'No Vendor will call' is a great way to make people stick around till the end of your session.  We don't know if it's a great way to make them give you great evaluations, but you can't have everything, can you?  But make sure it's good stuff.  Like E-Geeks badges, {code:html}Practical Workflow for SAP{code} books, or flashy blinky lights.  

* *

 

*Vegas Result:  Win* *7.   Calendar -* Make sure you understand exactly when sessions and ad-hoc meetings are being held.  Many of you may travel across time zone frequently, so you are probably used to this.  For me, it happens - maybe - once a year, and it's always a surprise when I show up for a 2 PM meeting, that really occurs at 5 PM.  *Vegas Result: Draw * (I was early to some things until I figured it out) *8.  Speaking of time* - if you plan to bet on your favorite football(or Gridiron, as the Ozzies would say) team on a Sunday, and even perhaps want to enjoy part of the game in an exciting Sports Book lounge, make sure you've calculated the time differential correctly.  You could find yourself returning from breakfast just to see that your team has gone into sudden death overtime.  Add three hours, subtract three hours,  what's the diff?  Someone should write me an app for that.*Vegas Result:  I'll tell you in 3 hours  *

*9.   Hands-on Sessions. * Although officially you can only sign up for 2 hands-on sessions, you can drop by to see if there is space.  And the Hands-on sessions are fantastic.  There is no better way to retain info (unless you prefer to be reminded by something on Youtube) than to get your hands on the keyboard and do the exercise.  In particular, I liked the BRFPlus session.  And I would have liked the evergreen CD266 (no name is required) - but other meetings got in the way. *
* * *Vegas Result: Win. 

 

*10.   Lunches, corridors, elevators, etc. * Although the formal training you get at SAPTechEd is awesome, some of the best learnings you will receive occur in undocumented locations - at undocumented times.   You may be dashing to your room to ditch your laptop prior to an evening reception, and see someone in the elevator wearing a conference badge.  Heck, since you are on the 42nd floor, you may as well ask 'How do you like the conference?'.  Surprise!  That person also specializes in technology that you want to learn - so you exchange business cards - and then you +*actually follow through with one another!*+.  It happens!   That's how I met and recorded a couple of folks and put their feelings about SCN and #sapteched on Youtube.  You can check out many SAPMentor Videos on Youtube here (http://www.youtube.com/user/sapmentors).   *
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