As I mentioned in my previous blog, I happened to take a trip to Europe in September. Due to the timing of that trip, and what would have been a quick turnaround, I was not able to attend OpenForce Europe in the Netherlands. I would have liked to be able to do both, but could not - unfortunately there is only so much time. It reminds me of a refrain I've been hearing the past couple of weeks from my contacts who were wishing they could attend both a Microsoft developer's conference which started today and the DevConnections event (of which OpenForce is such a big part) which begins in two weeks.
Keep in mind, the last time there was a PDC event back in 2005, a large group of DotNetNuke core team members and community members were in attendance. (PDC is definitely popular with the DotNetNuke crowd.) In 2005, the community-at-large voted for our topic, “DotNetNuke: The Migration to ASP.NET 2.0” to be one of the Birds of a Feather sessions. At the end of the day, the DotNetNuke project came out of PDC with a lot of blog mentions, buzz and press.
Fast forward to fall of 2007. DotNetNuke Corporation announced an exciting new conference, co-located with DevConnections, which would allow attendees to also participate in other DevConnections sessions (ASP.NET, VisualStudio.Net, SQL Server, SharePoint, etc.) The conference – which showcased 22 sessions, 25 speakers, and 3 DNN-specific exhibitors in 2007 – also drew roughly 5000 attendees to the venue at the Mandalay Bay.
In speaking to my contacts these past weeks – who I must admit are primarily from the DotNetNuke community – one thing became apparent. While they would have loved to attend that conference which started today, they have definitely decided to book their tickets for the DevConnections/OpenForce ’08 event in Las Vegas from November 10th-13th. Many of them would like to attend both conferences (some may even be doing so.) However, most of them have made the arrangements which will place them in the venue where a high concentration of their fellow partners, vendors, and clients will be – and that is in Las Vegas.
One such member of the DotNetNuke community that will be in attendance this year at OpenForce ’08 is Slavic Kozyuk. Slavic, the president of IHOST, LLC, will be located on the conference floor in Las Vegas at booth #700. IHOST was a sponsor of the OpenForce Connect event in Orlando, and graciously provided a hosting package for us to give away at the event. ~BW
"Here at IHostASP.NET we are very excited to exhibit our products and services at the OpenForce 08 Las Vegas trade show," says Slavic. "However, the exhibition hall is just a small part of the OpenForce event. The most valuable component of OpenForce events is always the face-to-face communication with our clients, vendors, and competitors. The OpenForce event presents a valuable opportunity to meet the people in our ecosystem, share ideas, and develop business relationships."
"Last June our company sponsored and attended OpenForce [Connect] in Orlando Florida. During that event we acquired many valuable contacts with various DNN experts and business professionals that have resulted in mutually beneficial collaborative projects."
"OpenForce '08 is one event that you cannot afford to pass-by. I can guarantee that you will not be bored, considering that the venue is hosted in the heart of the entertainment capital of the world. So don't delay, register for OpenForce 08 and stop by our booth #700." - Slavic Kozyuk is the President of IHOST, LLC