Spectrum 2017 Conference Recap
If you are doing anything in MultiValue, the 36th Annual International Spectrum Conference & Exhibition was the place to be for networking, solutions, and education. MultiValue professionals from North America and around the world gathered in Phoenix, AZ, from May 1st through April 4th, 2017, for a week of professional development and networking.
This year's attendees walked away with over thirty hours of professional development in MultiValue database technologies and integration from sessions alone. This year's sessions included topics for beginners, as well as our advanced topics that include information that was not MultiValue specific.
To see a videos and pictures for the 2017 conference, go to:
http://www.intl-spectrum.com/resource/842/2017-Conferece-Recap-Pictures.aspx
During the Welcome Address on Monday, Nathan Rector, President of International Spectrum, talked about how to explain MultiValue Databases, Applications, and Technologies in a single 1-liner.
Nathan explained why MultiValue Database technology was always hard to define. One of the reasons was that we (as developers and users) have always called it a "database." While very accurate in one aspect, it was not the whole story. MultiValue Databases are not just databases. MultiValue Databases are full fledged application development environments that just happens to includes a Database, Application Development Language, and Natural Language Reporting System.
So the 1-liner that Nathan used to explain MultiValue Databases was:
"A MultiValue Database is an Enterprise Class Business Application Framework with a built-in application development layer for 3-Tier programming that combines the power and stability of a Relational Database with the Flexibility of a NoSQL database."
This explanation provided a new perspective to attendees on how MultiValue Databases could and should be used when enhancing and developing applications. By creating a new point of view on how 3-tier database development can be done, the conference included many topics on building integrated software, APIs, and design consideration that would take your business data from "green-screen" and CLI (Console Line Interface) applications into sharing data with GUI, Mobile, Web, Windows 10, Outlook, and other external applications.
Along with talking about how to enhance existing MultiValue Applications, there was a lot of information for the new MultiValue developer and administrators. These sessions on the Fundamentals of MultiValue Database covered programming, dictionaries, and overall system design.
On Monday at Lunch, Dick Thiot from Maverick Systems, gave a talk on "MultiValue Servers: In-house vs. Private Cloud vs Public Cloud." He spent a lot of time explaining the differences between In-House and Cloud, and the advantages and disadvantages of using In-House, Private, and Public Cloud options.
In addition to this talk there were many other topics on cloud and virtualization. With many businesses looking closely at whether to buy new hardware or virtualize their existing systems, these sessions talked about questions on speed, storage, and design consideration, and check lists for when and if you plan to virtualize into a private or public cloud.
Security and Encryption was a hot topic as always. How to secure your data and protect yourself from ID Theft, Crypto Viruses, and other issues, there was a lot of good conversation and information that your business needs to know and implement.
Following up on modernizing application, Mobile and Web Developer was of interest as always. These are no longer new technologies to the enterprise, but are turning into required technologies that companies need to implement.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, the attendees were able to talk to our sponsors about tools and products that would help their business. As we've done before, we started with our "Vendor Speed Dating," which is always a blast.
For those that do not know what "Vendor Speed Dating" is, all the sponsors get 5 minutes to talk to the attendees before the "sneak preview" party, to inform them of things their companies can do for the attendees and the MultiValue marketplace in general.
During Lunch and in the evening attendees gathered in various places to Network. One of the greatest advantages that the conference brings to the MultiValue Community is its ability to bring together the novice and the expert to compare notes and talk about what issues they are having. The Spectrum Conference has always been a place to reinforce the community aspect of the MulitValue developers and users.
In addition to the non-scheduled networking time, there were Meet-the-Experts appointments where attendees could talk with our conference speakers and sponsors about any topic they chose outside of the sessions. We originally introduced this in 2016, and enhanced it in 2017 to allow easier scheduling and access to speakers. It was well received by our attendees, and we will continue it in future conferences.
The conference wrapped up on Thursday with our traditional Closing Conference party. As Attendees enjoyed one last time to talk, laugh, and network with each other, they enjoyed the sun, food, and drinks before returning to work the following day.
Most of the attendees took advantage of our post-conference downloads and on-demand session videos as well. These downloads and videos are one of the perks of attending the conference. It provides attendees a chance to revisit popular sessions or review something that was provided in a session they were not completely clear on to begin with.
If you didn't get a chance to attend this year, and would like to access to the session videos and downloads, you can still can at:
http://www.intl-spectrum.com/conference/show/17/SessionDownloads.aspx
Now that this year's conference is over, it is time to start planning for the 2018 Conference.
If you have a topic or session you would like to see at the Spectrum Conference in 2018, please let me know. I am always looking for new ideas, as well as, presenters.
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