Did I miss the post on WH Expo? Did any of you guys get together? Party (errrrr... I mean discuss hosting issues, heh). I'm not sure if I missed the post or if no one discussed it? How was it, etc.?

I am also interested in that?How was it guys?

Chris

Well, not for me to criticize, because honestly I doubt I could have done better, but...

On the good ol' fashioned "school days" grading scale, I'd give this year's expo a B-minus.

While attendance was good (actually more people than I expected), and it was very nice meeting quite a few people whom I knew online but had never met in person before, the conference itself was not the best it could (or should) have been.

My biggest complaints:

1) Very poor scheduling.
2) Smaller number of exhibitors than I would have expected.
3) Very poor scheduling.
4) Too many of the talks were geared to large hosting companies, and not enough were geared to smaller companies like mine. And since the vast majority of web hosts in existance (and thus most likely the majority of people at the expo) are small companies, it would have been nice to have had more geared toward us. Granted - I only was able to attend 6 out of a total of 51 conference sessions, so I'm sure I missed some things, but looking over the descriptions of those 51 sessions, I don't see a lot geared toward small companies.
5) Very poor scheduling.

Out of 17 talks/discussions/sessions that I wanted to attend (and the 51 total sessions held), I was only able to attend 6 of those. Why? Refer to #1, 3, and 5 above. They had 51 different sessions, but only 11 session hours to squeeze them all into. That's, on average, 4 or 5 every single hour.

For example, on Tuesday at 2 p.m., available sessions were:

1) Trends in data center design and development.
2) Microsoft's web services strategy, and opportunities for service providers.
3) DNS from start to finish: hands-on essentials.
4) Handling DMCA complaints.
5) Optimizing customer satisfaction.

Now, I don't know about anyone else, but with the exception of the DNS session the other 4 were really pretty much "must-see" for me - yet I could only pick one. And that was just one hour. As I said, out of 17 sessions that I had marked off as being "must see", I only managed to get to 6 of them - and that is entirely because the other 11 fell in the same time period as those 6.

As I said, I don't know that I could have done better. But if it had been me, I'd have tried very hard to spread these out more (almost every "session hour" had 4 or 5 sessions in it - yet out of a 10 hour day only 4 hours had any scheduled sessions. They had an hour set aside for breakfast, which is fine, and an hour set aside for a sponsored "happy hour", which also is just fine to be by itself. Then they had 2 hours a day set aside for keynote speakers, and 2 hours for lunch. They could have easily taken those 4 hours and put one or two sessions during them - not everyone wanted to go to (or even went) to every keynote speaker's talk, and I don't know anyone who needs 2 hours for lunch. Let attendees figure out which is more important to them - listening to the CEO of Digex talk for an hour, or attending the "Strategic financing alternatives for hosting providers" conference sessions. We're all adults - we know how to prioritize. And it certainly would have allowed attendees to get more out of the conference. At least, in my opinion.

If they'd held even 6 hours a day of sessions instead of 4 hours, that would have meant 4 more sessions that attendees could have gone to. I also would suggest moving Wednesday to a full day instead of a half day. Yes, it was nice to take Wednesday afternoon to do some sightseeing before I came back on Thursday, but I wasn't there for sightseeing, I was there for the web hosting expo.

I don't know. It was a very impressive conference, and I did by and large enjoy it a great deal. Don't get me wrong - it wasn't a wash-out. But it definitely could have been better.

I'm looking forward to next year - I think with what they learned this year they should be able to make a number of really good improvements and make next year's expo an A+ event.

Jason

While ill agree Jason's statement "Very poor scheduling." those sessions I did attend pretty much blew chunks. it was supposed to be about the hosting issues what I saw were a bunch of hour long infomercials (except the dmca complaint one it was good) . right from the opening keynote speaker that basically said well we screwed up and made way to many data centers so now we need to figure out how to link them up and make some money before our VC capitol is gone, ohh and if that's what we are going to do you had better do it to or your going to be history. I guess Web hosting Mag has always been about their advertisers first and not the real scoop on the industry and their expo showed it.

there were however some good companies there and I made a number of great contacts and will be expanding our offerings based on those contacts. so as far as a grade school rating goes I would have to give it a D- the 699.00 they charge for the full conference was a complete waste of money, the hotel was nice though :)

Steve

Originally posted by Keeg
the hotel was nice though :)

Steve

It Always is, It Always is......:D

Originally posted by Keeg
While ill agree Jason's statement "Very poor scheduling." those sessions I did attend pretty much blew chunks. it was supposed to be about the hosting issues what I saw were a bunch of hour long infomercials ... there were however some good companies there and I made a number of great contacts and will be expanding our offerings based on those contacts ... the hotel was nice though :)

Steve

Have you ever gone to one of those things (doesn't matter what industry) and the sessions were of any real value? Generally too short and just enough to make you want to do something that you think will be really great... until a month goes by and you've completely forgotten about it. Seems the biggest benefit is meeting others in the same field and making contacts.

I was thinking of trying to organize something out west (LAX or Long Beach area). Either something really casual (like everyone getting together at a pub), or something more fancy-schmancy like a mini-expo at a room in a fancy hotel (with dinner). More just a schmooze fest.

Any interest, thoughts? Guess it would depend on the number of people, as 300 wouldn't fit into a pub all that well.

Originally posted by Chicken


Have you ever gone to one of those things (doesn't matter what industry) and the sessions were of any real value?

Actually, yes, I have. A couple of years ago one of the local colleges (it *might* have been WPI but don't quote me on that) had a small business-focused technology seminar that was exceptional. It was a one-day program from about 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. (long long day), and had 90-minute sessions (which were much much better than hour-long ones - you could just fit *so* much more in), and every single session was a panel of at least 3 people (so that it was almost impossible for the presenter to give a sales pitch). It was very, very good, and best of all it was free to attendees.

I was thinking of trying to organize something out west (LAX or Long Beach area). Either something really casual (like everyone getting together at a pub), or something more fancy-schmancy like a mini-expo at a room in a fancy hotel (with dinner). More just a schmooze fest.

Honestly, if I'm going to spend the time and money to go cross-country, I'd like something with a little more substance (if it were held in Boston, though, I'd attend in a heartbeat - something like what you describe sounds great to attract local folks, but wouldn't attract people who'd have to travel, like me). But I do think that the people on this forum could put together a pretty good expo.

Jason

Originally posted by Keeg
those sessions I did attend pretty much blew chunks. it was supposed to be about the hosting issues what I saw were a bunch of hour long infomercials

Well, of the ones I attended, the DMCA one was by far the best (except that I somewhat embarrassed myself by making a very foolish-sounding comment that I wanted to take back instantly the moment it left my mouth, since what I said was not what I meant to say). The panel discussion lead by the guy from Interliant (at which Jay from Pegasus also was empanelled) wasn't bad, either, but it could have been better had we had more time to discuss things - again, that goes back to an hour being just too short.

Other than that, the panel on legal trends was also ok (I think that the panel format makes it harder for the presenters to make a sales pitch).

But, yeah, I agree with you - the sessions definitely should have been better.

the 699.00 they charge for the full conference was a complete waste of money

I agree - and if I'd paid the full $699 I'd have been absolutely livid. But I got my ticket really early and only paid $299, and I think for that price it was worth it for the contacts I made and the DMCA presentation alone. But yes, if I'd paid full price I'd have been absolutely beside myself.

the hotel was nice though :)

So I hear - I myself made the mistake of trying to save some money and stayed elsewhere - won't make that mistake again - when you added all the nickel-and-dime charges at the Holiday Inn, and the cost of cab fair back and forth to the expo, I have the feeling just staying at the Marriot would probably have been, if not cheaper, at least close enough to have not made a big difference. And I am absolutely certain I'd have enjoyed myself more at the Marriot than I did at the Holiday Inn!

Jason

Originally posted by Jason Ellis
Honestly, if I'm going to spend the time and money to go cross-country, I'd like something with a little more substance (if it were held in Boston, though, I'd attend in a heartbeat - something like what you describe sounds great to attract local folks, but wouldn't attract people who'd have to travel, like me). But I do think that the people on this forum could put together a pretty good expo.

Jason

Yeah, I should have mentioned that it would most likely be more of a gathering of Southwest, or even L.A. area people. I wouldn't really expect people to fly out for some brewskis at a pub :)