[OOTB-hive] The future of Alfresco Summit

[Jeff Potts]

I agree with you that DevCon wasn't killed--we morphed it into Alfresco
Summit a while back and added some business tracks and those were
successful conferences overall with cross-over between the two, as you said.

I also understand the motivation behind having a single conference every
year rather than two.

The questions I have about Alfresco Summit that may drive my opinion about
what happens with BeeCon are:
 * Will this year's summit include technical tracks? If so, how many?
 * Do sessions presented by users of Community Edition have an equal chance
of being selected when compared to sessions presented by users of
Enterprise Edition (all other things being equal)?
 * What will the cost of this year's summit be? (I'm thinking of its
attractiveness to Community Edition users as well as a recognition that
people from outside of the US may have a higher travel cost now that this
is their only choice).

Jeff

On Tue, May 5, 2015 at 10:48 PM, Richard Esplin <richard.esplin at alfresco.com
> wrote:

> I think a community led Alfresco conference is a wonderful thing, and I
> will
> address that topic in a separate post.
>
> I wanted to clarify the future of the Alfresco Summit. This is going to be
> long, but I hope it is helpful.
>
> Disclaimer: I am no longer on the Summit team and am no longer involved
> with
> determining its future. But I can share what I know about the reasoning
> behind
> our plans for 2015.
>
> The Alfresco Devcons in 2010, 2011, and 2012 were wonderful events. They
> had a
> clear focus, were not too formal, and provided a lot of value.
>
> In 2013 we tried to compliment the developer event with business tracks. We
> wanted to have a single global conference that provided something of value
> for
> all members of the Alfresco ecosystem. There was a lot of worry that it
> would
> dilute the developer tracks, but in the end I think we ended up with a
> great
> technical conference. We saw a lot of cross over between the "business
> tracks"
> and the "technical tracks", and we got overwhelming positive feedback from
> attendees. The challenge is that the business tracks weren't as successful
> as
> we wanted.
>
> In 2014 we tried again. Though again we didn't achieve our target audience
> mix, we got a lot of positive feedback about the value the business
> sessions
> provided. We feel like those sessions are useful for all attendees. Also,
> it
> is much easier to attract sponsors to a conference that appeals to all
> levels
> of our client organizations. The conference would not be possible without
> the
> participation of the sponsors.
>
> In 2015, we decided to change how we measure the success of the Summit. We
> understand that the regional Alfresco Day events are much better at
> attracting
> prospective customers and leading to sales. It took us a while as a team to
> realize that we should not be applying those measures to Summit. I believe
> that now we will be able to focus on the global event where we can come
> together, learn from each other, and build relationships that will sustain
> our
> community for the coming year. I believe that we are moving back towards
> the
> goals that governed our planning for Devcon.
>
> I am a little disappointed to hear people say that we killed Devcon. Our
> intention is to preserve a solid technical conference, and we would
> appreciate
> specific feedback on how we can do that. We obviously can't implement every
> suggestion, but the conference has always been strongly shaped by feedback
> from the attendees.
>
> The strongest feedback we have received this year is a feeling of
> disappointment that we are having a single global event . Honestly, I think
> the concern isn't that it is a single event, but that it is in the US.
>
> Since I joined the planning team, every year I proposed that we hold a
> single
> global event. Running two conference is a very challenging thing. It
> significantly increases the cost, it distracts key members of our
> technical and
> leadership teams for almost a month, and it divides our community. My
> argument
> was that most attendees do not come every year, and if we rotate between
> the
> continents then most people will continue attending. Having everyone in one
> place makes it easier to bring more Alfresco employees without having the
> employees dominate the conference. It also helps that participants won't be
> away from their jobs for as long. And I look forward to having our US and
> EMEA
> community members interact more.
>
> I was not involved in the selection of the venue for this year's Summit. I
> was
> disappointed to hear that we were starting a single global Summit in the US
> instead of in Europe. I know we looked at venues in multiple countries,
> and I
> think the selection came down to finding a hotel that could meet our needs
> within our budget. It is a challenge to find a venue for our size of
> conference: we are too big for most venues, but we are still too small for
> many hotels to want to give us as much space as we need for presentation
> rooms.
>
> It is unfortunate that it took us so long to make a decision and announce
> our
> plans. Our conferences have been so dynamic that it is a challenge to plan
> more than one year in advance; we want to see how the current year goes
> before
> making plans for the coming year. This year it also took us a long time to
> make a decision about what the goals are for the conference. If our goal
> is to
> close deals, then we didn't not succeed and shouldn't have a Summit. But
> everyone in the company recognizes the value in having a conference were
> all
> members of our community can assemble to interact with our team, learn
> about
> the product, and improve in their job functions. We had to make that
> decision
> before we could decide about one location or two.
>
> I also feel that our team made a mistake in not communicating openly about
> our
> plans for the conference. I hope that this explanation serves to ameliorate
> that.
>
> I hope to see you at Alfresco Summit this year, and at the Order of the Bee
> conference as well.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Richard
>
> On Wednesday, May 06, 2015 00:25:49 Boriss Mejias wrote:
> > Hi bees,
> >
> > First of all, thanks a lot for the support. Not only on the list, but I
> > have also received different emails confirming that this is a good idea.
> > So, we have all the energy to carry on with it!!
> >
> > Now to some of the questions:
> >
> > Gab: Thumbs up for working together on these activities. Thanks for the
> > immediate support. Regarding the target audience, just like Oksana said,
> we
> > think it is going to be a bit of both audiences, with a stronger focus on
> > 1: the developers and admins. This is at least how I see DevCon 2011 and
> > 2012. Great technical presentations and discussions, with some
> interesting
> > use cases that allow the technical people to see what are the problems
> the
> > users are having.
> >
> > Torben: The value of working together with Alfresco Inc is very
> important,
> > because we get in touch with Alfresco engineers that enrich our
> knowledge.
> > It will be independent from Alfresco Inc in the sense that the community
> > will be deciding the topics that will be presented and discussed.
> Regarding
> > the software edition, thing about a free and open source event, where an
> > open source application is presented, but it only runs on windoze and
> > macosx. The platform where it runs is not open source, but the
> application
> > itself is, and it can build a community around it. Would you prevent such
> > project to be presented at a conference because the platform where it
> runs
> > is not open source?
> >
> > Sam: They are not really stopping the Summit, but we feel they have
> killed
> > what used to be DevCon, and they have taken a direction that doesn't meet
> > the interest of the community. Thanks for the support.
> >
> > Cristina and Oksana: Yes, we need to start figuring out a lot of details
> of
> > the logistic of the conference, but I think our most important focus
> should
> > be content, and keep it low budget. FOSDEM is a good example to follow,
> but
> > I'm looking at other initiatives as well to pick up ideas from different
> > source. It's all in the fundamental interconnectedness of all things.
> >
> > That's it for now.
> > I'll come back with more info, task, questions and answers soon.
> > Reactions to become a volunteer and help with the organisations are
> clearly
> > welcome
> >
> > cheers
> > Boriss
> > PS: [*] I forgot that I wanted to clarify that May the 25th, Towel Day,
> is
> > far more important to me that May the 4th.
> >
> > On 5 May 2015 at 11:56, Oksana Kurysheva <okurysheva at itdhq.com> wrote:
> > > Hi bees,
> > >
> > > We can create a survey to select a place after we understand more
> > > questions to figure out. As for me, I like the idea and I prefer
> Brussels.
> > > It's good to have a venue for our first international community event.
> And
> > > next year we can look at other places after we will understand do
> Alfresco
> > > Inc and Alfresco partners ready to become sponsors and pay for a venue
> or
> > > not.
> > >
> > > A lot of things depend on will Alfresco and partners support us or not.
> > > Will participation be free of charge or not? Will a sponsor pay for all
> > > meals or should everybody pay for himself? etc... If we understand well
> > > positioning and values of the event, get interesting agenda and work a
> lot
> > > to organize and promote the event, then we can get more than 100
> > > participants (especially if it is free). It's really a lot of work. And
> > > it's a question does Boriss's employer ready to provide us a venue for
> > > such
> > > crowd of geeks or not, heh...
> > >
> > > Gab,
> > >
> > > > 1. the Developer Ecosystem (cross the Community or Enterprise
> boundary),
> > >
> > > i.e. a very technical event which offers content to satisfy the
> Developer
> > > persona?
> > >
> > > > 2. the Alfresco Community members / users (so any aspect of
> Community,
> > >
> > > including technical info but also case studies, sales / consulting
> system
> > > integrator pitches, etc.)?
> > >
> > > > 3. A bit of both?
> > >
> > > I think we focus on both of them. But to be honest, I do not know any
> > > "business users of Community Edition" who are really business users.
> > > Usually developers and administrators participate in the community and
> can
> > > participate in such event, so it's mostly the first point than the
> second.
> > > In any case I don't think that anyone is interested in providing a
> > > presentation about "How to use Alfresco and not pay to Alfresco Inc?".
> We
> > > can have a track for business users, but it will be about use cases
> that
> > > are common for both editions. // as I see that
> > >
> > > Regards,
> > > Oksana
> > >
> > > ------------------------------
> > > *From: *"Torben Lauritzen" <tl at magus.dk>
> > > *To: *ootb-hive at xtreamlab.net
> > > *Sent: *Tuesday, May 5, 2015 11:27:00 AM
> > > *Subject: *Re: [OOTB-hive] May the 4th be with you! Announcement!
> > >
> > >
> > > Hi All.
> > >
> > > I think it is a great idea to organize an Alfresco Community Meeting,
> and
> > > I would be happy to help!
> > >
> > > But I would like it to be completely independent of the Alfresco
> company -
> > > they are welcome to act as sponsors, but otherwise I think we should
> > > emphasize that it is a Community meeting, encompassing both technical
> and
> > > business issues related to Alfresco Community Edition.
> > >
> > > Cheers,
> > > Torben
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > On 05/05/2015, at 00.39, Gabriele Columbro <columbro at gmail.com> wrote:
> > >
> > > Hey Boriss,
> > >
> > > I’d say yeah more than forking (WTF = What the Fork ;), I suggest
> working
> > > together on these initiatives. Ole is quickly ramping up in his role
> and
> > > would be able to work more with you on these initiatives from a
> Developer
> > > standpoint (and with Richard from a Community standpoint).
> > >
> > > Personally, I think it could be a good idea need to complement the
> Summit
> > > with a more technical focused event, ideally in Europe, where our
> > > technical
> > > and developer footprint is very large. But might not be the necessarily
> > > the
> > > only solution: having a technical track at Alfresco days, where fresh
> > > content can be delivered more often and more locally than on a yearly
> > > cadence, seems also something we should be doing.
> > >
> > > For us to better organize internally how to support these events, and
> to
> > > help me better understand what problem are we trying to solve with this
> > > initiative, I have a question: I have seen the Community / Technical
> > > audience used interchangeably (e.g. it’s an “Alfresco Community
> Meeting”
> > > but the main reason is that Alfresco Days provide "very little
> technical
> > > value”, so I’d like to understand if your focus / interest / audience
> is:
> > >
> > > 1. the Developer Ecosystem (cross the Community or Enterprise
> boundary),
> > > i.e. a very technical event which offers content to satisfy the
> Developer
> > > persona?
> > > 2. the Alfresco Community members / users (so any aspect of Community,
> > > including technical info but also case studies, sales / consulting
> system
> > > integrator pitches, etc.)?
> > > 3. A bit of both?
> > >
> > > I know there is an overlap between the two potential audiences, but I
> do
> > > think these audiences might have different problems and as mentioned
> above
> > > might be addressed with multiple initiatives. Personally, I’d rather
> see
> > > us
> > > invest first on a Dev event first (but obviously I am biased :P) and
> then
> > > on a Community event, or on an event which satisfies both purposes (in
> > > which case though Alfresco Community Meeting might be not the best
> > > naming).
> > >
> > > Happy to follow up on a separate thread if we don’t want to highjack
> this
> > > one :)
> > >
> > > Thanks,
> > >
> > > Gab
> > >
> > > --
> > >
> > > Gabriele Columbro
> > > Sr. Product Manager, Core Platform / API, Alfresco Software
> > >
> > > On May 4, 2015, at 5:54 PM, Boriss Mejias <tchorix at gmail.com> wrote:
> > >
> > > Dear bees,
> > >
> > > I'm not a fan of Star Wars[*], but May the 4th sounds like a good day
> for
> > > announcement such as the following:
> > >
> > > *We are organising the Alfresco Community Meeting!*
> > >
> > > i.e., we are forking Alfresco Summit. May the fork be with you!
> > > (Oh, I mentioned the "F" word. Sorry Richard)
> > >
> > > Alfresco Inc. decided to organise a single global Summit. One of the
> main
> > > argument is that "Alfresco Days" were good enough for a large amount of
> > > customers that won't be able to travel to Summit. We feel that this is
> > > terrible for the Alfresco Community, mostly because Alfresco Days are
> > > sales
> > > event, with very little technical value, and the community wants to
> > > discuss
> > > technical stuffs and shared their expertise.
> > >
> > > We discussed the idea within the Board, and we all agreed that we
> should
> > > organise a community event. Here are the main ideas:
> > >
> > > *Goal*: Create an event where the Alfresco community can meet and share
> > > their knowledge.
> > >
> > > *When*: Either September 2015 or March 2016. We don't want to conflict
> > > with the Alfresco Summit (Nov 2015). This is a reaction of the
> community
> > > to
> > > the direction the Summit is taken, but it is not a boycott. It's
> bringing
> > > an event for the community, which can attend both events if they want
> to.
> > >
> > > *Where*: There are three ideas: 1. Brussels, 2. Stockholm, 3, Malaga.
> The
> > > reason why Brussels is first it's because I'm advancing on having a
> place
> > > to host the event with the company I work for.
> > >
> > > *What*: Technical talks, and a hackathon. Which means that we need A
> LOT
> > > of volunteers to present and to filter the submissions. This is a CALL
> FOR
> > > VOLUNTEERS! The more volunteers we have, the less work for each one.
> > >
> > > *Who:* The Order of the Bee is the main driven force for the
> organisation
> > > of the event. But it's an event organised by the community and for the
> > > community. So, any community member outside the Order is welcome to
> help
> > > and attend
> > >
> > > *.*
> > > *Sponsors: *We will have Honey, Nectar and Pollen sponsors, instead of
> > > Platinum, Golden and Silver. This is of course an irrelevant joke, but
> we
> > > hope to convince Alfresco Inc to give us some sponsoring, specially by
> > > sending engineers to the event. So, don't abuse the "f" word :D.
> > >
> > > That's it. Feedback, ideas, and volunteers are welcome!
> > >
> > > Cheers
> > > Bee Mejias.
> > > aka Boriss
> > > _______________________________________________
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