#AdobeSummit Takeaways: Adobe Puts on a GREAT Event
Originally written by Analytics Demystified on March 8, 2013
I’ve written several posts with different reflections on my Adobe Summit 2013 experience. You can see a list of all of them by going to my Adobe Summit tag.
This was my first Summit. I’ve wanted to attend for years, but the stars never quite managed to align to get me there. And…this experience had me regretting that I didn’t work harder to force some astronomic alignment!
The best way for me to capture the “GREAT” in the subject line is with a bulleted list:
- Overall event organization — given the magnitude of the event, seemingly every detail was fully thought through with redundancies and contingencies in place. Pre-event communication, “no wait” registration, a great mobile app, people standing everywhere with “Have questions? Ask me.” signs, transportation to and from various venues, and food and drink stations well stocked and appropriately spread out for every meal. Perfection.
- Speakers — the Adobe presenters, the keynote speakers, and the practitioners in breakout sessions were top notch. I actually found myself questioning how to rate the speakers — “Average” for Summit or “Average” for all presenters I’ve ever seen at conferences? I went with the latter, which meant I had a Lake Wobegone experience — all the speakers were (well!) Above Average.
- Community Pavilion — the vendor exhibit hall was very well laid out, and the range of vendors on hand was a great mix.
- Fostering the conversation — I was invited, along with Michele Kiss, to be a Summit Insider. We were given free rein to share our experiences via social media to try to foster the conversation. And, we got to do some video interviews of attendees, which was both nerve-wracking and fun. I honestly thought I was at least trying to take a little bit of the edge off my usual snarkiness…but two different people commented on my Twitter snarkiness on Thursday night. I guess we’ll see if I’m back next year in the same role if they do it again. I’d certainly love to!
What are your thoughts about the quality of the event? Did I miss a seedy underbelly somewhere, or did you think it was well done?
