Recently I’ve attended two conferences two weeks apart in San Francisco, and the difference in style is shocking. One did not even feel like a conference, rather a Festival – Woodstock, Mardi Gras, SXSW – your pick:-) The other a decidedly more “closed” traditional corporate conference, so much so, that fellow commentators actually compared it to time travel :
R Ray Wang Time travel RT @benkepes: .@rwang0 amazing that a week ago you were at #DF12 and this week you’ve gone back 10 years to be at OpenWorld #OOW
What’s really shocking to me how the external appearance truly reflects the messaging of the two companies. But I’ll shut up – here are some photos, you be the judge.
The “park” in the middle is normally busy Howard Street, shut down for the event, astroturfed, set up with stages, large screens, food stalls, lots of bean bags and all sorts of entertainment. Beautiful San Francisco weather did not hurt, either.
Now, let’s see how the other conference converted Moscone and Howard Street:
It reminds me of a formation of the Roman Legion…
Dark alleys, some with dead ends.
Why do I feel like I am at a train station?
Oh, well, this is fun. Pictures do talk, after all. So much so, I’ve decided to give you a pictorial preview of a few posts I am about to write:
(Disclosure: As is customary in business, all vendors mentioned or referred to covered or will cover T&E for conference attendance)
Great article! Thanks for covering this topic — the contrast is truly shocking, but stays true to each brand in style and messaging.
Great comparison! I attended Dreamforce 2012 and the atmosphere was truly mesmerising – great ambience, lots of fun activities coupled with some great sessions and a stunning line up of speakers. I think DF’12 will well and truly set the benchmark for future technology conferences in the Silicon Valley.
As for Oracle Open World, I think the pictures some it up so I’ll just leave it there.