Once again, the Engage conference was a huge success: a stunning venue to meet, learn and talk a lot about the Notes/Domino/Sametime/Connections ecosystem! Regardless if you are an administrator, a developer or a user.
Of course, a lot of work still needs to be done and customers need to be convinced to stay or even better, come back.
But since the start of what was called BLUG (Belgium/Luxemburg Lotus User Group) back in 2009 and became Engage later on, being currently one of the most successful events worldwide, I’ve never noticed such a tremendous thrill as in the last 2 days. And I was there in 2009 and barely missed an Engage since then, so I can compare 🙂 .
With the recent release of Notes/Domino 10.0.x and the upcoming (and promising) V11, you felt a renewed drive that confirmed that the recent work of IBM/HCL on the products is being welcomed by the Community. The round table conversations I attended were the best interactions as far as I’m concerned. I hope to have some time to blog a few details soon.
Thanks !
For this couple of days, Brussels was not only the capital of Europe but also of the (N/D/S/C) World. And I’d like to thank Theo Heselmans for that, aka as the ‘Face’ of Engage (like in the A-Team, remember? 😉 ).
By doing so, I do thank all of the actors and members of this A-Team (as Theo mentioned himself in his ending speech, he cannot do this by himself of course): IBM/HCL, the various sponsors, speakers, volunteers, … that made Engage such a success once again.
Thank you Theo & ALL for making Engage possible
Besides the good news about new releases and features, what struck me this year was the diversity of the participants. Back in 2009, most of the attendees were obviously coming from the Benelux, at least as far as I can remember it.
Ten years later, I saw more than ever people from all over the world: Benelux, US, UK, Germany, Italy, Scandinavia, Eastern Europe, Australia, Russia, Japan, … and I definitely forget to mention a LOT of other countries (very sorry for that). Every year, the number seems to be growing but for sure, people never came from more countries than they were this year. This was a very pleasant surprise.
Fortunately, it does not stop here. Next N/D/S/C World Capital in the journey will be Essen (Germany) on June 4th and 5th for the DNUG conference. Although I’ve never had the chance to attend DNUG I’m sure there is at least one thing in common with Engage: the enthusiasm of the Community.
So if you can, make sure to be there! No doubt it will be worth the trip!
#DominoForever