InAAU in Texas 1

[des0906]

I just registered for the InAAU Conference in Texas. I've never been, so any recommendations on how to approach the experience?

Avaya 8720\Octel VMX300
"Sanity is a goal, not a guarentee"

 

[jfh9219]

Plan your days ahead of time. Identify alternates for each time period. Things get canceled. Pre-print handouts if possible/available. Handouts have always been a concern. Sit in the back. If the session turns out to be other than what you thought, leave. Go to a backup session. Way too many sessions to waste any.

Ask (appropriate) questions during the sessions. Lots of people wait for the end and then rush the speaker. Chances are there are people in the audience who would like to hear your question asked/answered. The squeaky wheel gets oiled.

Plan for Monday night to be the Avaya shindig. Always a good time. Check out your region. Many have customer outings on Tuesday/Wednesday. Talk to you primary business partner. They might be planning something for "key" customers. Visit every business partner's hospitality suite.

Set aside the time to travel the exhibit hall. Lots of idea generators. Lots of opportunity to talk to Avaya product line managers/techs. Don't expect them to solve any ongoing problem you might have, thats not why they are there.

Bring plenty of business cards. Drop off at booths in the hall, network at lunch or in hospitality suites. Remember everyone there has something in common with you - you use Avaya products.

 

[Stinney]

jfh9219 has a lot of good recommendations.

I checked out all of the agenda before the confernece last year and planned out what I was going to attend. But after attending a few sessions, I found myself changing what I planned to attend. Not because the session was bad, but I liked the topic and/or speaker so much that I wanted to attend more presntations by the same speaker or within the same topic area.

- Stinney

Favorite all too common vendor response: "We've never seen this issue before.

 

[gblucas]

I am interested to see others who have attended to see what their thoughts are. I have always wanted to go, but have never had time to attend. My new position with my new employer has budgeted money for the past 5 years for this event and have never sent anyone. It looks like this is the year. Anyone else who has ideas please give us some pointers.

Thanks,

gblucas

 

[papagigo1]

I went last year in Florida and found the sessions done by the end-users to be usful. Try and sign up the first day for all your sessions, they fill up fast. The AVAYA groups talked about the future and got an ear full from Traditional Switch users that had no intention of upgrading, mostly the US Government (DOD and FAA) and some large corporations. One person who was responsible for 54 Traditional switches felt AVAYA was pushing her to upgrade even though most of the switches were installed in the last 3 years.

Mike in NH

 

[mikeydidit]

I went to the one in Philadelphia a few years ago. It was well worth the time and money on my opinion.

The sessions are great and you will have several to choose from during these. The backup session is a good idea BTW. I attended one session that the instructor was very knowledgeable but was from India and very hard to understand. Several of us left and went to the backup session because of this.

I think one of the best things I gained from this was different contacts from other vendors. By this I mean Avaya BP’s from other parts of the country. Plantronics rep’s and other products. I still have these people that keep in touch with me keeping me up on what’s new and what is in the works. I have probably paid for my trip with the money that I have saved our company by using some of these vendors. It never hurts to have more than one source for you supplies. ( Sets, EPN’s, cable and jacks)

The Avaya night is Ok if you are into that. One free meal anyways. In my case I like my BP so we had a good time.

See the sites, learn from the sessions and make new contacts.


Hell, there are no rules here - we're trying to accomplish something.
Thomas A. Edison

For the best response to a question, read thread690-1323977

 

[phonechic]

I have gone to a couple of the conferences. I will have to agree with the person stating the sessions presented by the end users are more helpful, more "how to" info. I have attended several sessions put on by vendors, business partners and Avaya that feel like a sales pitch. For example, I would guess a lot of Avaya presentations will cover what has just been released or subject to release this summer. The sessions by the end users tend to be more along the lines of a mini-class, and always seem to get good participant discussions going about the subject matter. And the end user's equipment and versions aren't always the latest and greatest, and they are willing to discuss programming from CMS r12 or CM 2.2,..., where the vendors/business partners and Avaya will probably discussing CM 4.x.

 

[SF0751]

I will say that although the training sessions are worthwhile (and there are enough of them so if one turns out to be a dud, you can scoot and and find another) the general sessions in the morning are boring. I usually skip those - I'll sit out in the lobby and read a book, instead.

Susan
"Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls, and looks like work." - Thomas A. Edison

 

[des0906]

Great advice, everyone! I appreciate the time you've taken to share some of your experiences. This will help me in planning out my agenda over the next month or so.

Avaya 8720\Octel VMX300
"Sanity is a goal, not a guarentee"