Some of you may already know that every fall we host our IGUANA User Conference at our office in Toronto (September 23 and 24th this year). For those of you who didn’t, here’s a retrospective on last year’s event.
I mailed invites out at the end of May (though I got a stack of mail back, so I’ll be reaching out to you for address updates) to a select group, but for those who didn’t get one, here’s the electronic version.
Besides the mail-out, we’ve added a banner on our homepage and on the IGUANA page, but that’s all we’ve done until now. So, since promoting the IGUANA User Conference is part of my job, here I am writing a post about it. I’m struggling to write something that’s not full of words like “synergize, empower, leverage and network” — ha, I got them in, the marketing-speak is hard to overcome ;). I was also trying to dish up a technical-oriented piece for you, but as it turns out, my tech newbieness makes for a really inauthentic blog post.
For example, the topic of High Availability is a proposed session for the conference, so I thought it would be great to write about it. I looked up High Availability (HA) in Wikipedia (because it’s my go-to Encarta these days) and started to feel confident that I could write about it until I got to the chart with all the 9s. Where did these 9s come from? Who decided that 9s were the best number? Why is there a log formula — wait, is that even a logarithmic expression? Eeek, complex math and computer stuff. Danger, danger!
Yeah, suffice it to say, I’ve abandoned that idea and will leave the technical stuff to others. I realized that I can speak about the benefits of HA (like continuous operation = happy customers, no loss of revenue, and no bad press) but to explain how to best implement it using IGUANA would just be a disaster. So, instead I’ll write about what I know and get excited about: event planning!
It’s the third year we’ve done this and I’ve learned a key thing about you guys — not only do you love IGUANA, but you appreciate good food and drinks! Keeping in mind price and the availability of bars/restaurants in the area, I selected the beautiful Radisson Hotel Admiral by the lakefront for you guys. It has a bar attached to it, Shoeless Joe’s, and its a convenient 5 minute walk to our dinner venue, Bar Milano. I wanted a patio space (because by that time of year winter is coming and any extra sunlight is much appreciated) that would face the lake and could provide a selection of delicious food. Note: I’m ordering a mashed potato station and considering a soft-serve ice cream station as well! Most importantly, it has a wide selection of drinks including craft beers and reserve wines. Oh, and did I mention that because it’s so close to the hotel, you won’t have to worry about catching the shuttle bus back and cutting your schmoozing time short? Speaking of schmoozing, I’ve arranged for a Welcome Reception on the night of the 22nd at Shoeless Joe’s, so you can meet each other and us in advance.
I hope you consider coming to the IGUANA User Conference. I’ll be here to make sure things go smoothly for you guys, while learning a thing or two about integration best practices. Hope to see you in September!