domingo, 27 de marzo de 2016

Anchors aweigh: Recap of OUGN 2016



Let me start by saying that OUGN Spring Seminar has been one of the most memorable experiences I've had as a conference attendee / speaker.

I believe most of us in the Oracle community have heard the stories about this event, told by the people who have been here before, and it is definitely one of the most coveted slots throughout the year for speakers / ACEDs who wish to take part of this unique setup.

Fortunately for me, I just moved to Oslo in the past few weeks, and my new employer, Sysco AS,  happens to be one of the main sponsors of the seminar, so when a last minute chance to present on the boat came up, I was obviously all for it!!

Before boarding the Oslo - Kiel cruiser, OUGN organised a really nice speaker dinner at picturesque Aker Brygge, where I was really happy to see some familiar faces from friends I had met at previous events and which were now in Oslo for the Vårseminar. I was also surprised to realise all the different countries and regions represented by the speakers attending the conference, from Argentina to Mexico, USA, Holland, India, Portugal, Russia, Croatia, UK and much more.

The next day it was really swift to get onto the ship. I must say that I was really pleased with the excellent organization and logistics provided by OUGN's board. I've had the chance to be part of the organising committee for Oracle User Group conferences in the past, in my hometown of Mexico City, so I'm quite familiar with the hard work and the challenges this implies, though what we used to do is far from this scale. That being said, what the Norwegian User Group pulls off every year is truly commendable and one of a kind. One really outstanding element, which I think every conference should adopt, is the fact that the seminar was almost 100% paperless, as everything we needed was included in the guidebook app.

Once on board, the fun got started in every way imaginable. The mix is just perfect as you have sponsors, customers, speakers, colleagues and friends altogether with nowhere else to go. So, there was a time for everything, from doing business and attending excellent sessions to having drinks with friends, going on the sun deck to appreciate the mesmerizing landscape or  even late night singing and dancing at the multiple clubs available.



I really had a great time and met so many new friends; every meal was delicious and I was every minute in the company of very interesting and fun people, so i didn't really sleep much as I didn't want to miss out on all the fun!!.

I also enjoyed preparing and presenting my session about Oracle MCS, where I was really happy to see many of my good friends come and support me. I'm also glad the topics showcased stirred some discussion, as it is always a learning experience having people question and challenge what you're bringing to the table.

A couple of good tips for presenting on a boat are: avoid any live demos requiring fast internet connectivity and beware of motion sickness!!



Last but not least, it was really cool to see many of my Sysco Middleware teammates also presenting at the conference: Jon Petter, Oleg, Dalibor and Cato all had great sessions, and I'm sure the rest of our multinational and highly skilled team will follow on the same footsteps the next years.

Well, it was a blast and I'm really looking forward to hopefully coming back on 2017!!

Thanks OUGN & Sponsors, and congratulations on a fantastic fortnight!!, and thank you dear reader for going through this quick post =)

Comments and questions are welcome as always.

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