As you know a few of the Community Reps are busy organizing something very ambitious! We are going to run a 24 hour, free SharePoint conference called SP24. SP24 will be global and held 100% on-line, using SharePoint 2013 and Google Hangouts / Youtube to run it.
Now that the first phase is live (preliminary information and call for speakers), we are well underway with developing the Registration feature and also the Virtual Session Room tech. So, to try and make this the very best on-line experience we can – within obvious budget and time constraints – we are looking for your input!
Can you let us know the main reasons you attend SharePoint conferences and what you expect to achieve from them? Also, if you can, cast your mind to SP24 and what we are trying to achieve, what would you like to see at a purely on-line event ?
What I like in conferences are actionable items or takeaways that I can use and apply. Slide Decks are good — as is Sample Code and Websites. Of course, this is from a developer’s perspective.
Main reasons I attend are to get info and to meet people. For purely online, it’s really quite similar to an in-person session. In fact, sometimes with an online session it can be EASIER to hear the speaker and to see the slides or demo, since I can adjust a headset and am watching on a decent monitor. I can also grab screen shots (for example, from a demo) that I might not be able to do at a live event.
Whether live (in person) or online, I typically have OneNote open and take notes as the session goes along. With online this makes it REALLY easy to grab a screen snippet and add notes right there.
Regardless of format, I also appreciate having sessions that cater to a variety of skill / experience levels. There is SO much to SharePoint that even those who’ve been working in one area of SharePoint for years will often have other areas where they are basically beginner / intermediate level. And, of course, there is a LARGE number of people just now coming to the SharePoint world!
