My Thoughts on Lotusphere 2012

First, I had the good fortune to meet and talk with a lot of people, many for the first time:

Hai Bo Yu and Shuang Hong Wang (two very awesome IBM i developers from IBM in China).
Kim Greene and Amy Hoerle from Kim Greene Consulting
Sharon Bellamy
Lisa Duke
Femke Goedhart
Stuart MacIntyre
Darren Duke (who I'm convinced is my UK double in terms of a dry sense of humor)
Bill Malchisky
Kevin Mort
Alistair Rennie (who I ambushed on my last day but was gracious enough to spend a few minutes talking with me)
Marlon Machado
Angela Caruso and David Clarke from IBM Canada
Wes Morgan
Roxanne Reynolds-Lair
Tim Rowe
Mat Newman (a truly nice guy.  Anyone who shakes your hand, looks at your name tag and recognizes you...then lights up with a genuine smile to give you a big hug is alright in my book)

There are so many, many, many more.  If we chatted for a few minutes about sports or picked each others brains about technical matters then forgive me for not tagging you. 

Second, the content.  A good few people were joking about the conference was all about "social" or "Xpages."  It's no secret that social business was the focus.  The OGS had so many mentions of the word social it was like an indoctrination session.  I found the biggest applause was the web browser plugin that gives you Notes functionality.  In a room full of tech heads, the demos were what counted the most.  Social is a concept, and people are really starting to get it especially when seeing the practical applications of it.  Outside of the OGS, the technical sessions I went to were fantastic.  Looking forward to Lotusphere 2013.

Third, I heard from many IBM'ers that a good number of customers were approaching them about Connections support on IBM i.  That's fantastic.  The more vocal we are, the more IBM will understand how big the Lotus on IBM i community is. 

Fourth, Canada night wasn't Canadian enough.
Not a maple leaf in sight?  No red and white arm bands?  No Molson Canadian beer or Tim Horton's coffee anywhere?  Even the stickers they had for the badges were green.  Alistair Rennie is Canadian...you'd think that would be reason enough to have poutine or Montreal smoked meat from Schwartz's on the menu.  :)  I did like the "crabonera" though.  Very tasty.  But next year, throw a little Canadiana into the mix, eh?

Someone mentioned that I "made a big splash" at my first Lotusphere. I was barking up every tree and meeting everyone possible.  Is there any other way?  What good is it to just "be there?"  Get involved.  Pick your position and advocate.  Stick up for the interests of your peers and the guys who couldn't be there. Be big, brash, bold and get noticed. Meet people to make your opinions heard. That's how you influence a tension for change.