tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5106689659668378141.post26126730663990263..comments2024-01-03T13:12:30.352-05:00Comments on Wise man or Wise guy? You decide: Would Third-party Product Driven/Vendor Sessions Benefit User Groups and Community Events?Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10597545408348167623noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5106689659668378141.post-53495223482674164622010-01-15T10:59:42.675-05:002010-01-15T10:59:42.675-05:00Grant,
I'd definitely limit vendor sessions t...Grant,<br /><br />I'd definitely limit vendor sessions to sponsors. There are definitely some issues and you probably won't ever get it perfect, but I think attendees AND sponsors could get benefit. I'd love to hear someone tell me how they are using LiteSpeed or SQLBackup and how it has helped them. Or even a session on SCOM and how to use it to monitor SQL Server.<br /><br />Garadin,<br /><br />I agree a time slot of third-party tools wouldn't be good, but isolated sessions throughout the day are acceptable. For sponsor sessions I'd definitely want a limit on the number and I think 2 per day is a good limit (1 morning, 1 afternoon).Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10597545408348167623noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5106689659668378141.post-21708874122904878182010-01-15T10:46:38.267-05:002010-01-15T10:46:38.267-05:00I think that the scheduling of these sessions esta...I think that the scheduling of these sessions establishes the line as to whether or not they push the event into a 'marketing' realm. If you just add a 'third party tools' track, (maybe half of which is done by vendors and half of which is done by users who actually implement these tools in real environments), I think it would meet the need you're trying to fill without forcing anyone to feel like they have to listen to a sales pitch. I think the line would be crossed if you flipped the scheduling from a track to a time slot, so instead of it being track 8, it was the 1-2:15 hour where people had to basically 'pick their poison' and attend one of them. <br /><br />All in all, I like the idea, I've found third party tools that I absolutely love and make my life much easier and would love to learn about more.Seth Phelabaumhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11058242316647242727noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5106689659668378141.post-82327590377871168542010-01-14T07:42:13.779-05:002010-01-14T07:42:13.779-05:00Having helped put together a SQL Saturday, it prob...Having helped put together a SQL Saturday, it probably wouldn't be that hard to block out the time for a vendor, preferably a sponsor, to do something like this. It would just be difficult to get the right balance if the vendor picked the presentation. I think having some advocate come in to do it would probably work. The problem is, the audience on a SQL Saturday is so limited. You really want something like this on a "24 Hours of PASS" type of thing so that it's shown to 400 people at a shot and then to hundreds more in downloads. But then it starts to come across as sales. I think we're dancing on a knife on this one.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5106689659668378141.post-91310090908578017762010-01-13T23:32:49.984-05:002010-01-13T23:32:49.984-05:00Grant,
As I said in response to Keith, I'd lo...Grant,<br /><br />As I said in response to Keith, I'd love to see someone like yourself do a presentation on how you are using the tools and where you've found them most useful. <br /><br />I do understand organizer's concerns, but if you limit the number of sponsors who get the sessions (FIFO), that takes the pressure off. Like for a SQLSaturday maybe have 2 Super Sponsors and give one a morning session and the other an afternoon session. Then they aren't up against each other, but they aren't the only game in town either. Just throwing out ideas and hoping for some good discussion.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10597545408348167623noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5106689659668378141.post-52730037222110584212010-01-13T23:28:34.018-05:002010-01-13T23:28:34.018-05:00Keith,
My thoughts as well. The issue most organ...Keith,<br /><br />My thoughts as well. The issue most organizers have is how to "keep the vendor honest". That's why, while I'd be okay with those sessions, I'd rather see someone from the community do a presentation about how they are using third-party products. In that case you get a more balanced presentation.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10597545408348167623noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5106689659668378141.post-69131243128267259612010-01-12T22:14:02.833-05:002010-01-12T22:14:02.833-05:00I wish we could vendor presentations too. I'd ...I wish we could vendor presentations too. I'd love to go to town on some of the cool tricks you can do with Red Gate tools. I've done a couple of short presentations on some of the stuff for my user group and that's acceptable on nights when Red Gate (or any other company) sponsors the evening. It's just that places like Tech-Ed, PASS & Connections don't want vendors fighting for the slots and then scaring off all the attendees with nasty sales pitches. I get it, but it's still a shame.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5106689659668378141.post-32296871197435980762010-01-12T09:05:05.138-05:002010-01-12T09:05:05.138-05:00I would love sessions on vendor products at events...I would love sessions on vendor products at events and user group meetings. One of my biggest challenges is getting the most out of the products we have in house that we are paying for and not using very effectively. Of course I would want the person to be totally honest and not sugar coat the bad things in the product as well. Make it a fair presentation and it should work.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com