ODTUG Kaleidoscope - Final Thoughts

The ODTUG Kaleidoscope conference in Monterey, California was magnificent. Attendance was up over last year making it one of only two conferences I'm aware of that went up since last year (the other has to do with Blackberries). There's a good high-level review of K'Scope from my friend, Prashanth Prasanna, at http://blog.seguetech.com/?p=185.

The Hyperion hands-on labs were packed to the gills. The 3 Hyperion track rooms in most cases weren't standing room only, so next year has room to grow in terms of attendance. The Hyperion Developer's Symposium on Sunday went very well as Al Marciante from Oracle brought a great cast of Product Managers to talk about the future of the various Hyperion, Essbase, and Oracle EPM tools and applications. I personally enjoyed most the keynote from Robert Gersten, because I enjoy his off-the-cuff, absent-minded professor style of speaking. Robert seemed to enjoy speaking to a crowd of a couple of hundred Hyperion fans too.

There were two unexpected highlights of the week. The first was the Hyperion Midnight Madness event. The "Ask a Guru" panel went from 10PM-midnight on Monday and there were 100+ people there eating chocolate, drinking caffeine, and asking questions. Attendance kept growing over the two hours and at midnight, our moderator, Tim Tow, finally had to cut off the questions or we were going to be there all night. The panel consisted of all the Oracle ACEs and ACE Directors for Hyperion/EPM at Kaleidoscope as well as a couple of guests from the Hyperion SIG board just to keep it lively.

Speaking of lively, the other hit of the week outside the normal conference fare was a bluffing/detection/strategy/party game called Werewolf. The first night of Werewolf (go to http://games.bezier.com/direct.html for a copy of the game) was held right after midnight madness. Moderated by interRel's CFO, Stephanie Kelleher, about 13 people stuck around just to see what people were talking about.

On Tuesday night, everyone requested we play it again (which we did until about 3 AM) and we increased to 25 players. On Wednesday, the groundswell continued and we went up to 45+ people playing until almost dawn. While it ruined any chance of sleeping I might have thought I was going to get, it made for one of the most fun conferences I've ever attended. Apparently, Werewolf is sweeping the software conferences of the world:

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13577_3-10225896-36.html

Was the conference perfect? No, but my gripes are minor compared to the things they did right. The food wasn't as good as Kaleidoscope 2008 and there weren't as many vegetarian options. The internet at the hotel was horrendous making it so on several occasions I couldn't even get a connection. The location was too far from the local city so you had to drive to the local restaurants for nightlife. I would have liked to see even more Hyperion attendees, but considering that Collaborate Hyperion attendance was down 40-60%, I guess Kaleidoscope should be happy that they saw any growth at all.

Still, Kaleidoscope was the best conference I attended in 2009 and I can't wait for 2010. Keep watching this blog because as I get official confirmation of the days and location for next year, I'll be posting it here.

An Official Apology to My Readers

I'm sorry for ignoring you. My name is Edward and it's been 2+ months since my last posting. In the last entry, I was about to start the Kaleidoscope conference. And then... nothing. I essentially fell into the ether. While I could claim that it was because I've been really busy (which I have), it's really that overwhelming sense I get sometimes that with the plethora of blogs out there these days, that one more really doesn't matter.

About 18 months ago and someone came up to me at a conference and said, "Dude, it's been weeks since your last posting. I'm just sayin' [apparently, that phrase was popular then], you need to update more." Once I realized that I had at least one fan (whom I've nicknamed "Glutton for Punishment"), I figured I'd better update.

What happened over this summer is that I realized while there was a time when I was one of 5 or fewer blogs on Hyperion, Essbase, or Oracle EPM, there are now 30+ blogs on the topic. In other words, I figured that people were getting their news from a lot of different sources, so it wasn't that particularly important if I posted. Yes, some of you did write and harangue me for falling off planet Earth, so I'm not begging for feedback here. Also, I track the hits and even with no postings, I get 1,000 hits per week on this blog. What I really mean is that surely those 30+ sources would cover the things I wanted to talk about.

What I've realized, though, is that even with the volume of blogs and forums out there, they're not reaching the things I wanted to reach. I've now accumulated more than 10 topics that I consider important enough to the community to write about that have either been marginally touched on or completely ignored.

So my apologies in advance if they seem dated, but I'm going to have a flood of postings leading up to Oracle OpenWorld in October. I'm hoping you'll find the content interesting. If not, at least my conscience is clear that I've done my (remarkably) little part to share what I've found out.

Prepare yourself, mom and my other loyal reader, for the onslaught.

ODTUG Kaleidoscope - My Sessions

As President of the ODTUG Hyperion SIG, I chair (along with Tim Tow) the Hyperion/Essbase tracks for Kaleidoscope. In addition, I also get to deliver a couple of presentations. Below are the sessions where I'm either speaking or co-speaking. For each one, I will list (after the session title) the Twitter hashtag you can use to ask questions of me before or during the actual presentation. If you want to learn more about Kaleidoscope's Twitter initiative, visit http://odtugkaleidoscope.com/twitter.html or scroll to the bottom of my earlier post). If you want the complete agenda, go here:

http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=1796201

• Monday, 10:00-11:30AM. Calc Scripts for Mere Mortals. Twitter: #ODTUG S468. I'm joint presenting this one with Gary Crisci, my friend and fellow Oracle ACE from Morgan Stanley. With Essbase ASO soon to support calc script-like functionality, who knows? This may be the last time I give this presentation.
• Monday, 2:15-3:15PM. How to Save Barrels of Time & Money: Implementing HFM in Less than 6 Months. Twitter: #ODTUG S434. I'm co-presenting this one with Tracy McMullen, best co-author ever and an Oracle ACE Director. This is what's known in the venacular as a "vendor-sponsored presentation." In other words, it's a paid infomercial. I hate delivering these things, but we were given one for free with our premiere sponsorship. I figured I would deliver a presentation that's content-rich but also reminds people that in addition to giving away lots of information for free, interRel actually does make our living as a consulting company.
• Tuesday, 5:15-6:15PM. Oracle ACE Director Sundown Session on Hyperion, Essbase, and BI. Twitter: #ODTUG S675. I'm moderating a discussion on BI/EPM along with Tracy McMullen, Tim Tow, and Mark Rittman. I'm not sure what will happen in this one, but I get the impression we're taking questions from the crowd in an informal setting. It might just be a mix & mingle.
• Wednesday, 9:15-10:15AM. 10 Hardcore Essbase Tuning Tips You've Never Heard Before. Twitter: #ODTUG S420. I'm not sure if I have to give this one or not. It was supposed to be delivered by someone else who dropped out at the last minute. I've given this presentation before (including on a webcast just yesterday), so I know the material. I'm going to try to get Glenn Schwartzberg, friend and fellow Oracle ACE, to deliver it so people don't get bored with my droning, monotone voice.
• Wednesday, 10:30AM-12:00PM. Optimizing Calc Scripts. Twitter: #ODTUG S614. I'm looking forward to this one. I normally don't get to give an entire hour on ways to speed up Essbase BSO Calc Scripts. Even more rarely does anyone give me 90 minutes to talk about it. Again, with the advent of ASO procedural calcs, this might be the final lap for this presentation.
• Wednesday, 1:30-2:30PM. How Essbase Thinks. Twitter: #ODTUG S522. I've been giving this one for around 10 years, but this one will be very different from all the rest. No, that's not sarcasm: it really will be, because Tom Tortolani will be delivering all the Essbase BSO (Block Storage) content. Those who've been around Essbase since the beginning will recognize Tom's name. He was one of the original 10 employees at Arbor Software and is considered to be the father of the Essbase calc language among other great things. Tom is at Star Analytics these days, and he's going to be covering the BSO part of "How Essbase Thinks" while I cover the ASO part. If you've never met Tom, come to this session for no reason other than to pay homage to an Essbase legend.
• Wednesday, 2:45-3:45PM. Optimizing 64-Bit Essbase. Twitter: #ODTUG S613. This is actually Brian Suter from Dell's presentation on the optimizations they went through when upgrading from 32-bit to 64-bit Essbase. He's going to do all the Dell-specific stuff and then I'm going to handle the more generic 64-bit optimization tips. Sadly, people think going to 64-bit is a cureall for performance issues when in reality, well optimized 32-bit cubes get slower on 64-bit until they're optimized for 64-bit.
• Wednesday, 4:15-5:15PM. Essbase Optimization Roundtable. Twitter: #ODTUG S618. I'm not sure if I'm chairing this panel or if I'm just a member. If I'm just on the panel, then I expect Tim Tow will emcee the roundtable. Our goal for this presentation is for each of us to offer up our optimization tips and then take questions from the audience.

Wow, I just realized that I have more sessions on Wednesday than the rest of the conference put together. If you have a question you wish me to address in one of the above sessions, feel free to Twitter it now (just use the hashtags listed above: #ODTUG Snnn).

ODTUG Kaleidoscope - Overall Agenda

I'm sitting here in the Oracle ACE Director briefing not being able to write about what I hear in the briefing. As such, I thought I'd write about what my conference plans for the next few days since I may not get another moment of free time for the next week.

Saturday, June 20

The first day of Kaleidoscope is always devoted to community service. Last year, they helped rebuild a school in New Orleans. This year, they're removing invasive plants from Martin Dunes on the Pacific coast. While I am a pro-nature sort of guy, I'm not 100% positive I'm going to spend the day on the beach killing evil plants. I love the environment, but this is my only potential down day until the conference begins.

We're the premiere sponsor of Kaleidoscope this year, so we have some massive booth at the front of the convention center. The booth is also supposed to be setup on Saturday, so that may also take me away from the dunes. I hope to get out there, though. There's a planet that needs saving, and it's not like it's going to save itself.

Sunday, June 21

This is the Hyperion Developer's Symposium day. I already did a previous entry on the main content for this day:

http://looksmarter.blogspot.com/2009/05/kaleidoscope-announcements.html

I think I'm kicking off the day and then turning it over to the day's host, Al Marciante from Oracle. The symposium should last until 4PM followed by a speaker's briefing from 4:15-4:45.

Steve Miranda will be delivering an evening keynote from 5-6PM. Steve is the SVP of Fusion Apps development for Oracle. Some of the Hyperion attendees might be overlooking because they might think it'll be a briefing on Fusion Apps. From what I've heard, it will actually be more of "how do you manage a huge development project." In other words, the presentation will be more of a business management presentation. I'm going to attend, and I hope my fellow Hyperion attendees do to. There will also be a demo of some Fusion application, but again, I think it's in the context of development management.

Following Steve's keynote is the welcoming reception from 6:15-8:00PM. There will be good hors d’ oeuvres (Kaleidscope is known for their quality food) and some jazz music. I think I have to be staffing our booth in the exhibit hall (where the reception is being held). We actually have a fun new booth concept we're trying (it involves a lot of playing of video games), so I'm looking forward to booth duty slightly more than I normally am.

Monday, June 22

The main keynote for the whole conference (which seriously shows how much ODTUG loves the Hyperion community!) is the great John Kopcke. He's Oracle's SVP of BI/EPM and he'll be keynoting from 8:30-9:30AM. He's going to be talking about EPM and the "Management Excellence" concept Oracle's been advocating for more than a year now. I'm really excited John's giving this presentation, so attendees, make sure you get up bright and early to pack the room!

Sessions are on Monday from 10:00-5:15PM. The evening is open for attendees to run amuck through downtown Monterey pillaging, overturning cars, optimizing SQL, that sort of thing. To avoid this chaos, interRel is hosting a dinner for some people that evening (and I presume I'm supposed to be there).

From 10PM-midnight, we're trying something new for this conference. We're hosting a "Midnight Madness" chocolate buffet, caffeine bar, and "Ask a Hyperion Guru" panel. This session (party?) will also be our one opportunity to address the whole Hyperion community at Kaleidoscope, so we're going to spend a couple of minutes giving an update on the Hyperion SIG.

Tuesday, June 23

This day is pretty simple. Hyperion sessions from 8AM-5:15PM. I then spend the evening doing various Oracle ACE Director activities. There's a panel from 5:15-6:15 (called "Sundown sessions" in the program), a reception from 6:15-7:15, and then an off-site dinner for us Oracle ACEs at the Monterey Beach Resort until 10PM.

Wednesday, June 24

Proving that no one at Kaleidoscope cares in the least if I'm a morning person, there are again sessions starting at 8AM and running until 5:15PM. The evening is a closing night special event involving jazz, food, comedy, food, god-forbid dancing, food, frivolity, and so on. I might ditch early and start up a poker game in my room.

Thursday, June 25

Sessions start at 8AM (why, God, why?) and go until noon. I then head to the Monterey airport for a roundabout series of flights back to DFW. As you can imagine, there aren't a lot of direct flights from Monterey->DFW, so I'm routed through San Francisco. I think I would have actually prefered to drive to SFO so I could fly direct, but I'll just enjoy my tour of the Pacific coast.

Pretend You're At the Conference

If you're company had financial cutbacks making it impossible for you to go to K'Scope this year or if you're otherwise incarcerated (shoutout to Bernie Madoff!), you have some options for following along. ODTUG has a page that aggregates all the blogs about Kaleidoscope:

http://odtugkaleidoscope.com/blogs.html

You can also watch everyone's Twitter feeds about the conference here:

http://twitter.com/#search?q=%23ODTUG

Of course, you can always follow my Twitter feed here:

http://twitter.com/ERoske

Twitter will be a big part of Kaleidoscope this year. All of the sessions will have their own Twitter hashtag (basically, "#ODTUG Snnn" where nnn is the session ID). This will allow attendees to the sessions to not only discuss the presentation while it's going on, they'll be able to ask questions of the presenter.

Each speaker is supposed to have an application running live on their laptops showing the live Twitter feed while they're presenting. This could be very confusing for some speakers who aren't used to questions appear on their screen while talking. I'm used to doing webcasts where this is the norm, so I don't expect any issues. I suppose we also have to worry about attendees tweeting uncool things while someone is presenting. Heckling is a whole lot easier if you don't have to speak IRL. This will either be the coolest micro-networking communication idea ever or it will crash & burn. It will be different, no matter what happens.

I will be doing a follow-up post after this one explaining which exact sessions I'm delivering in case anyone wants to tweet me some questions in advance.

Oracle ACE Director Briefing

I'm in Redwood Shores, California at Oracle HQ. I'm here for the semi-annual Oracle ACE Director briefing. Today's topic is the new Fusion Middleware 11g release that comes out on July 1. I haven't figured out yet if this will include the new OBIEE product releases (Answers, Dashboards, Publisher, etc.) that have the better Hyperion & Essbase integration. Since no one's saying anything about it, I'm guessing the answer is "no."

I thought I'd be the only one Twittering about today's briefing, but it seems Twitter is quite popular amongst Oracle ACE Directors. Half the people in the room were twittering wildly for the first 90 minutes until the NDAs (Non Disclosure Agreements) arrived. If you want to amuse yourself, read this feed from the bottom up and notice the volume of tweets (and the content of the tweets) change dramatically once the NDAs got passed around:

http://twitter.com/#search?q=%23Aced

The NDA is fairly unrestrictive as these things go. It only keeps what we hear confidential for the next 12 days. Once launch day (July 1) arrives, we can tell everything we were told today (when it becomes public information anyway). In exchange for signing the NDA, we were all given 8 Gb flash drives containing all the pre-release software. I'm thinking of selling mine on eBay.

I got to the Sofitel a little before midnight and then I had to be here for the briefing at 8AM. It's supposed to end at 6PM. We're then going to take a party bus to Monterey for the ODTUG Kaleidoscope conference. Follow this blog if you want to follow along with the conference. If you want live updates during the days (and you're a glutton for random @#&^ that occurs to me during the day), follow me on Twitter.