I’ve long been a fan of the Enterprise Irregulars – and if you aren’t, you should be. The “EI’s” (as they’re often called) are a loosely joined group of practitioners, consultants, and analysts that collectively blog about enterprise software (and building the “smart” enterprise). Their group includes such well-known folks as Michael Krigsman, Susan Scrupski, Jevon MacDonald, James Governor, Phil Wainewright, Jeff Nolan, Maggie Fox, Ray Wang, Dion Hinchcliffe, Niel Robertson and many others.
A little over a month ago, the idea arose that the EI’s might bring some content to Defrag. And, after some discussion (internally for them, and between their side and me), we’ve decided we both love the idea.
And so, it is with great fanfare that I’m pleased to announce that the Enterprise Irregular’s first ever “content track” will be taking place at this year’s Defrag. Steve Mann (the driving organizer behind this) and I have discussed the broad themes they’ll be addressing, and we’ve narrowed it down to “The Platform Shift” (you know what that’s about), and “The Economics of Modern Software.”
The EI’s are some of the smartest people I know, and having them bring their unique, seasoned perspective to Defrag is going to up the bar to an even higher standard. Now, in addition to everything you would’ve received by attending Defrag, you can throw in the added benefit of a track of content from the Enterprise Irregulars.
If this is all starting to seem a bit overwhelming (in a good way), that’s because it is. Here’s how Defrag’s shaping up:
The day before Defrag starts (November 16th), Ben Kepes is organizing an unconference (at the Defrag hotel) called Technology4Good — focused on using technology to bring about positive change in our world.
The night before Defrag we have our now traditional pre-conference dinners — where space is EXTREMELY limited and always goes very fast (and the only way in is to register for defrag).
The first morning of Defrag will bring keynoters like Jeff Jonas (Chief Scientist, IBM), Dr. Michael Wesch (Digital Anthropologist, Kansas State University), Dr. Paul Kedrosky (King of the CNBC airwaves, financial dude extraordinaire), Esther Dyson (she needs no introduction), Scott Porad (Cheezeburger Network), and Vinnie Mirchandani (to talk visualization of data and the National Hurricane Center) to stage.
The first afternoon of Defrag will offer breakout sessions around analytics and BI, interfaces, the adoption gap, semantic filtering, and the EI track.
The second morning of Defrag brings keynoters like David Weinberger (The Cluetrain Manifesto), Alex Wright (author of Glut), Stowe Boyd, Vivek Wadhwa (of BusinessWeek, TechCrunch and Duke University), and JP Rangaswami (Information as seen through the eyes of a Foodie) to the stage. While Defrag’s second afternoon will cover everything from mobility to the social customer to the importance of APIs to project management.
Did I mention that I’m not even CLOSE to done with the agenda? There are still more keynoters, sessions and networking events to be added.
Bottom-line: We’ve worked really hard over the last three years to build a good reputation with Defrag, but this year’s Defrag is going to put the past year’s conferences to shame.
And it’d be a real shame if you didn’t come and contribute your voice to our conversation.
You simply will not find a more intellectually stimulating, high-powered, intimate gathering of brains this fall — now with the added benefit of the Enterprise Irregulars. I hope you’ll choose to join us.
Be sure to REGISTER TODAY, as super early bird pricing expires tomorrow evening.
