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    Spiceworld London 2016

    IT Discussion
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    • scottalanmillerS
      scottalanmiller @Kelly
      last edited by

      @Kelly said:

      @Breffni-Potter I think it would depend on what you were valuing. If you're looking at going to a tech conference and a chance to meet vendors I think it would be a terrible value.

      Meeting vendors works really well. You just have to know how to do it. At the conference proper (all there is in London) or the "no talking" official events you get almost no chance to talk. If you go with the crowds to the unofficial events, you get tons of access to vendors with time to talk.

      KellyK Minion QueenM 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • scottalanmillerS
        scottalanmiller @Kelly
        last edited by

        @Kelly said:

        @scottalanmiller said:

        @Kelly said:

        There are more person to person interactions with vendors and Spiceworks staff, and not just a booth crawl.

        there is an epic booth crawl, but those of us in the know just skip that. I don't visit the booths t all.

        I meant that the interactions consist of more than just the booth crawl.

        Not the official ones 🙂

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • KellyK
          Kelly @Carnival Boy
          last edited by

          @Carnival-Boy said:

          I guess these events are great for networking but unfortunately networking isn't a skill I've ever managed to master.

          I wondered about this before my first SpiceWorld, but I realized that it was more like meeting up with friends I'd never met in person before. I wasn't networking. I was just hanging out.

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • KellyK
            Kelly @scottalanmiller
            last edited by

            @scottalanmiller said:

            @Kelly said:

            @Breffni-Potter I think it would depend on what you were valuing. If you're looking at going to a tech conference and a chance to meet vendors I think it would be a terrible value.

            Meeting vendors works really well. You just have to know how to do it. At the conference proper (all there is in London) or the "no talking" official events you get almost no chance to talk. If you go with the crowds to the unofficial events, you get tons of access to vendors with time to talk.

            I was responding specifically to @Breffni-Potter's question about the value to him. As a UK based MSP, American sales reps aren't going to provide him much, if any, value.

            scottalanmillerS 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • coliverC
              coliver
              last edited by

              I heard there was a conference in upstate NY that would be a great way to network and be introduced to technical topics. 😛

              Minion QueenM 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 4
              • scottalanmillerS
                scottalanmiller @Kelly
                last edited by

                @Kelly said:

                @scottalanmiller said:

                @Kelly said:

                @Breffni-Potter I think it would depend on what you were valuing. If you're looking at going to a tech conference and a chance to meet vendors I think it would be a terrible value.

                Meeting vendors works really well. You just have to know how to do it. At the conference proper (all there is in London) or the "no talking" official events you get almost no chance to talk. If you go with the crowds to the unofficial events, you get tons of access to vendors with time to talk.

                I was responding specifically to @Breffni-Potter's question about the value to him. As a UK based MSP, American sales reps aren't going to provide him much, if any, value.

                I don't know if that is true. Most of the ones at the UK event are American ones anyway. Katie and Richard are US based. Brian from Scale is German and does the US events, that isn't an issue here. I think the country basis isn't as big as you'd think. AetherStore is nearly 100% European staff.

                KellyK 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • KellyK
                  Kelly @scottalanmiller
                  last edited by

                  @scottalanmiller said:

                  @Kelly said:

                  @scottalanmiller said:

                  @Kelly said:

                  @Breffni-Potter I think it would depend on what you were valuing. If you're looking at going to a tech conference and a chance to meet vendors I think it would be a terrible value.

                  Meeting vendors works really well. You just have to know how to do it. At the conference proper (all there is in London) or the "no talking" official events you get almost no chance to talk. If you go with the crowds to the unofficial events, you get tons of access to vendors with time to talk.

                  I was responding specifically to @Breffni-Potter's question about the value to him. As a UK based MSP, American sales reps aren't going to provide him much, if any, value.

                  I don't know if that is true. Most of the ones at the UK event are American ones anyway. Katie and Richard are US based. Brian from Scale is German and does the US events, that isn't an issue here. I think the country basis isn't as big as you'd think. AetherStore is nearly 100% European staff.

                  Perhaps not. However, what I stated reflects my experience at SWL. With the exception of the vendors that were primarily US based, they either weren't interested in engaging or weren't capable of reframing their information. I was actually interested in the offerings from one vendor who was international, but despite asking them to put me in contact with a local sales rep I kept getting UK regionalised information and pricing.

                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                  • DashrenderD
                    Dashrender @scottalanmiller
                    last edited by

                    @scottalanmiller said:

                    @Breffni-Potter said:

                    Some stall holders were just grumpy, disinterested. I don't get why they were there. One of them when I tried talking to them said "We sell storage systems for the 50k mark, so mainly enterprises" - But you are at a heavy duty SMB focused event?

                    Austin gets that, too. Lots of vendors have never heard of the community and just get sold the stall by sales people without explaining to them who the audience is or outright telling them things that are inaccurate. You get a lot of vendors there that are pretty confused or just don't care and actively shun the audience they just paid for.

                    That was the case for Cylance - they only sell to 250+ seat places.

                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • Minion QueenM
                      Minion Queen Banned @scottalanmiller
                      last edited by

                      @scottalanmiller said:

                      @Kelly said:

                      @Breffni-Potter I think it would depend on what you were valuing. If you're looking at going to a tech conference and a chance to meet vendors I think it would be a terrible value.

                      Meeting vendors works really well. You just have to know how to do it. At the conference proper (all there is in London) or the "no talking" official events you get almost no chance to talk. If you go with the crowds to the unofficial events, you get tons of access to vendors with time to talk.

                      Except there were very few unofficial ones. And everything in London closes up so early. @scottalanmiller and I who are so familiar with SWA were pretty bored at night 😛

                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • Minion QueenM
                        Minion Queen Banned @coliver
                        last edited by

                        @coliver said:

                        I heard there was a conference in upstate NY that would be a great way to network and be introduced to technical topics. 😛

                        Thank you @coliver!

                        Deleted74295D 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • Deleted74295D
                          Deleted74295 Banned @Minion Queen
                          last edited by

                          @Minion-Queen said:

                          @coliver said:

                          I heard there was a conference in upstate NY that would be a great way to network and be introduced to technical topics. 😛

                          Thank you @coliver!

                          Except the cost of said conference is much higher due to the time & travel expenses required. So thanks but no thanks 🙂

                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • Minion QueenM
                            Minion Queen Banned
                            last edited by

                            Oh I understand 😞

                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                            • Deleted74295D
                              Deleted74295 Banned
                              last edited by

                              I won't be going to MangoCon for the same reason I won't be going to Austin 😛

                              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                              • StefUkS
                                StefUk
                                last edited by

                                I think it's still worth going to spiceworld London.

                                As far as content goes, for an IT tech conference, you get a lot of interesting talsk and not always from vendors. The drill is stil the same, ie vendors flussing things up, but I find it interesting depending on the projects that you are involved in you can always make some good conversation. Most of vendors are pretty nice @Lenovo - unitrends - cyberoam - webroot etc .. you ll always get some annoying one ..

                                In terms of value for money .. you get decent food, decent swag and a good free booze party ... I don t think is all that bad.. 🙂

                                I can't compare it the Austin one but as a UK venue it's not all that bad ... will need to find the time to come over the pond and sample the Austin one ..I hope soon ...

                                Stef

                                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
                                • larsen161L
                                  larsen161
                                  last edited by

                                  If you're looking for a great tech conference in London check out BSides. It runs along InfoSec typically and as such is a security focused conference. Very few vendors to get in the way (5-10 maybe) and everyone talks to everyone at the breaks.

                                  Problem with this conf though is trying to get a ticket. Supplies are very limited.

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                                  • Deleted74295D
                                    Deleted74295 Banned
                                    last edited by

                                    @larsen161

                                    Nice suggestion.

                                    https://www.securitybsides.org.uk/

                                    Do you know how long it runs from/to? There is no schedule yet or rough outlay of timings.

                                    larsen161L 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                    • larsen161L
                                      larsen161 @Deleted74295
                                      last edited by

                                      @Breffni-Potter Here's the details...
                                      Security BSides London 2016
                                      June 8th 2016
                                      ILEC Conference Centre
                                      47 Lillie Road, London, SW6 1UD

                                      0_1456483090588_Screen Shot 2016-02-26 at 10.37.21.png

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