Feasibility survey of a possible European Kscope-like conference
As most people likely to read this blog will know, I am a great fan of the ODTUG Kscope yearly conference for Oracle developers. In my opinion it is one of the absolute best places for awesome content, presenters, attendees and networking - all wrapped in one high quality package that's fun too.
Some Dutch developers (Erik van Roon, Gert Poel and more) and I had a little twitter discussion some time ago. Some european developers would love to attend Kscope due to the high quality, but they simply can't attend a US based conference, either due to lack of funding or company policy that prohibits travelling far away for conferences. A European version of Kscope we think would have potentially a large number of attendees who would love the ODTUG experience but can't go to Kscope.
We believe there is room for such a conference, even though Europe has great national OUG conferences like UKOUG, DOAG, OUGN, Harmony, BGOUG and more. These also have developer content, but they are not conferences dedicated solely to developers. We think a developer conference could supplement the existing european conferences, not replace them.
But so far that is just a feeling we have. We would like some more facts and figures on how many would be interested in an "ODTUG Escope" conference - somewhat like Kscope but in Europe.
So just in time before Kscope15 starts, here is a feasibility survey on what you would all think about an Escope conference: https://goo.gl/forms/ulJJY9cXP9
Please fill out the survey and give us your opinion about the idea of Escope. That way we can better know whether the idea is stillborn, or whether we have a good idea to present to ODTUG :-)
For further news on the progress of the Escope initiative, sign up for the newsletter at:
http://www.evrocs.nl/escope/
Some Dutch developers (Erik van Roon, Gert Poel and more) and I had a little twitter discussion some time ago. Some european developers would love to attend Kscope due to the high quality, but they simply can't attend a US based conference, either due to lack of funding or company policy that prohibits travelling far away for conferences. A European version of Kscope we think would have potentially a large number of attendees who would love the ODTUG experience but can't go to Kscope.
We believe there is room for such a conference, even though Europe has great national OUG conferences like UKOUG, DOAG, OUGN, Harmony, BGOUG and more. These also have developer content, but they are not conferences dedicated solely to developers. We think a developer conference could supplement the existing european conferences, not replace them.
But so far that is just a feeling we have. We would like some more facts and figures on how many would be interested in an "ODTUG Escope" conference - somewhat like Kscope but in Europe.
So just in time before Kscope15 starts, here is a feasibility survey on what you would all think about an Escope conference: https://goo.gl/forms/ulJJY9cXP9
Please fill out the survey and give us your opinion about the idea of Escope. That way we can better know whether the idea is stillborn, or whether we have a good idea to present to ODTUG :-)
For further news on the progress of the Escope initiative, sign up for the newsletter at:
http://www.evrocs.nl/escope/
In a world dominated by application developers, this makes a lot of sense, Kim.
ReplyDeleteHave you also thought about working with ODTUG to do the conference? It might be worth exploring with some board members when you are in Hollywood for Kscope15.
Yes, Steven, I (we) would love for such an "Escope" conference to be part of the ODTUG family. The ODTUG board knows what we are doing and have expressed positive comments.
ReplyDeleteThe important thing is to ensure we do not harm UKOUG, DOAG, OUGN, Harmony, BGOUG and other european conferences. But as this would be a developer-specific event, we feel there is room for this. We know that when we attend Kscope we get an awesome experience *because* we are all developers there.
My personal thought would be that the perfect scenario would be that this would be a conference in the ODTUG family (for the experience ODTUG has with Kscope), but that as "Escope" moves around european nations (just like Kscope moves around US states), ODTUG could collaborate with the local national OUG of each country to get help with the local knowhow. Anyway, that is at least my dream scenario ;-)
Sounds very sensible and attractive. As I mentioned on twitter, it's not too soon to also think about how it would be different from others. You will need a clear identity and differentiators.
ReplyDeleteExample: I find the usual conference hotels kind of horrifying - sterile and so divorced from world around them. What if Escope took the approach of holding conferences in more natural areas (conference centers outside of urban areas - I bet they are not that hard to find in europe) and integrated the cyber focus with a natural focus?
I would sure love that, anyway.
Not a bad idea, I think when Harmony has been in Finland they have had success with "nature" - even had some staying overnight in the forest.
DeleteI'll start gathering up ideas, then we'll see which ones are doable :-)