Kaleidoscope for the money and time challenged

Are you skint, broke, busted, busy, unappreciated but still want to go to ODTUG Kaleidoscope?

The question

Can’t experience the full ODTUG Kaleidoscope experience because your company has no budget/that big project tragically coincides with the Conference of the Year/your boss doesn’t appreciate your super genius and won’t cough up the dough?

The answer

For those short of time, budget, or both, you can now attend the ODTUG Hyperion symposium.  What is it?  Tsk, didn’t you read my last blog post?  Of course you did, because you are a super genius, just like me.  

Returning to what you actually care about, Sunday 26 June 2010’s Hyperion symposium is the day where big Oracle acts like a tiny little startup and you’re the Venture Capitalist.  Oh yes, the power feels so good.

What do I mean?  That Sunday will be where Oracle gives we lucky attendees (and that can now include you for c-h-e-e-p, just keep on reading) a preview of where Oracle EPM is going, and if the magic repeats from last year, an opportunity for you to share your Essbase/SmartView/FDM/whatever opinion directly with the people who manage the products.  Perhaps I’m overemphasizing the point, but Sunday may be an unparalleled opportunity for you to talk directly to the product staff.  Speak now or forever hold your peace.  And your office isn’t even on Sand Hill Road.

Setting expectations

Just a bit of a disclaimer – not every product presentation last year was this kind of freewheeling session, but I am hoping to gently nudge all of them into this position through the awesome reader base that this blog commands.  So that would be my mother and Glenn.  And I have to ask her.  I know Glenn just does it for the chance to heckle me and tell me that I’m overly verbose.  Which is true.

Continuing down the may-not-happen-so-don’t-hold-me-to-it theme, Oracle will state in these presentations that they are committed to nothing they present and that whatever they do present is subject to change.  I like that – it’s honest and realistic.  Product futures aren’t written in stone and besides, if Oracle is asking you questions, the whole point is that the direction will change.  Regardless, the peek into the future makes it all worthwhile.

So, what’s your excuse?

Even Scrooge had to give Sunday’s off, and I appreciate that dipping into your pocket hurts (I know people who took vacation or unpaid time off, paid their own way, and shared rooms just to attend last year.  This conference inspires sacrafice.) ,  but look at it this way, you’re getting access that only the largest and most important customers/partners get for the mere pittance of $325 if you sign up before 24 March 2010.  And you don’t even have to miss a single day of that unbounded joy we call work.  I hope to see you there.