34 O A U G C O N F E R E N C E S

H Hotel booked, registration

complete, flights confirmed. You’re all

set for COLLABORATE 12: Technology

and Applications Forum for the Oracle

Community in fabulous Las Vegas

(April 22-26)! Now, what can you do to

deepen the value of your conference

experience? How can you extend the

educational benefit of the event by

making lasting connections with others

who become trusted resources?

COLLABORATE is packed with just

such active and engaged participants

who want to contribute to your

success. So get ready to make the

most of your week in Las Vegas.

Order more business cards. Do your

homework. Arrive ready to network.

Use the tools. My Show Planner

is the online tool for COLLABORATE

attendees to search session offerings,

build and manage their custom

schedules and also learn more about

the companies participating in the

Exhibitor Showcase. My Show Planner

will help you identify the sessions you

wish to attend. This is a great tool that

will let you double-book yourself, so

if one session is not quite what you

expected, you can pop over to your

second choice. This tool helps OAUG,

too, as we are able to anticipate

participation and move to a larger

room if the audience outgrows the

original room.

Through My Show Planner, you

can also explore exhibitor offerings

to locate those that meet your

specific interests and then pre-book

appointments with them in their

booths. The value of your

COLLABORATE experience

can increase exponentially

by taking a thoughtful,

deliberate approach to

your time in the Exhibitor

Showcase. This is how you

can meet industry experts and

potential business partners who can

make a significant difference in the

success of your next project.

Exhibitors are also great

connectors – share your experiences

with them. It’s likely they know other

users with similar challenges and

can help you network. Using the

appointment-setting feature in My

Show Planner saves you time and gives

you focused opportunities for

discussion, as opposed

to aimless wandering

through a very large

and very busy

exhibit hall.

Tweet to meet. The conference

conversation is

already happening on

Twitter. Follow the conference

hashtag, #C12LV, to identify those in

the Oracle Applications community

Networking: The Power Boost for Your COLLABORATE 12 Experience! By Anne RistauManaging Principal Instructor, IT Convergence and COLLABORATE 12 Marketing Chair

oaug conferences

Before the Show: Make a Plan

You already know the people from

your office. Meet a new buddy.

“

“

35 oaug.org

who are attending COLLABORATE.

Find presenters, panelists, attendees,

exhibitors, media and others. Reach

out to them with a follow. Let them

know you’ll be at the conference and

would like to say hello. Try to

set some appointments

for coffee or drinks in

advance. Read what

they’re blogging or

tweeting about to have

plenty of conversation-

starting material.

Find the networking programs. Use the conference

website (collaborate.oaug.org) to

find out about the special events

and networking opportunities that

are scheduled throughout the week.

Everyone is invited to a Women in

Technology panel discussion and

lunch — the perfect venues to make

connections with other intelligent,

active women in the field. Pay attention

to whether these programs require

pre-registration and tackle those

registrations early so you are sure

to have a spot. Last year many men

found it enlightening, saying things like,

“Wow, I had no idea my wife is juggling

so much.”

Take advantage of the

myriad Geographic User

Groups (Geo) and Special

Interest Group (SIG)

meetings taking place.

Geos meet Tuesday

afternoon at 4:30

p.m. Check My Show

Planner (search for session

type: Geo Meeting) to see if

attendees from your area are getting

together then. Likewise, search session

type “SIG Meeting” for the schedule of

meetings taking place throughout the

week. These are great forums to share

conversations focused on your specific

interests and hot topics. In addition,

many SIGs have online sessions

throughout the year, so COLLABORATE

is a chance to see what is available

beyond the conference.

There are more networking events

and features planned, so be sure to

watch the conference website and your

inbox for details!

Get in the zone. Pick your topics,

pick up your networking buttons (see

page 36), hit the events and mingle

in the OAUG Networking Zone. Select

from up to ten topic icon buttons at the

OAUG Welcome Reception (Sunday,

April 22 from 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. at

the Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay). Wear

your buttons throughout the week so

you can spot attendees with similar

interests and strike up a conversation.

Then visit the Networking Zone in the

Exhibitor Showcase to create pop-up

meetings and catch up on the latest

tips learned in the day’s sessions. Look

for tweets throughout the conference

updating you on special topic-driven

During the Show

Use breaks to get to know the people sitting around you.

“

“

O A U G C O N F E R E N C E S 36

lightning sessions being held in the

Networking Zone as well.

Work the room. Certainly, you may

sample as many education sessions

from as many of the 20 educational

tracks as you would like. But are you

aware of the benefits of focusing on a

particular track? OAUG’s conference

organizers intentionally design the

education schedule so that track

participants will more or less stay in

the same room the entire conference

— providing a deep-dive experience

on that particular subject as well as

an extended opportunity to get to

know others who are clearly

focused on the same

issues. Use breaks

to get to know

the people sitting

around you. Try not

to rely too much on

your smartphone

during breaks – make

the most of the time you

have with the folks around you.

Reach out. Find those people you

identified before the conference. Using

Twitter or the attendee directory,

reach out to them to name

a time and place to meet.

Share a breakfast, meet

for lunch in the Exhibitor

Showcase or share an

afternoon break.

Keep an eye on the tweets. Watch for

announcements of tweetups — or

organize one yourself. Tweetups are

usually informal, fun and open to all.

Everyone who attends is looking to

meet others, so it’s a ready audience

for making connections.

Introduce others. People will

remember you for making their own

networking efforts easier and more

successful, so pay it forward and be

generous with your introductions.

Take notes. Each day during

afternoon breaks, or when you’re back

in your hotel room before heading out

for the evening’s activities, take a few

minutes to go through the business

cards you collected during the day

and make notations of the topics you

discussed — business or personal.

You’ll meet so many people during

Set a goal to meet five or more

new people in your area of

focus.

CRM

SUPPLY CHAIN

FUSION

EPM

TECHNOLOGY

HCM

FINANCE

UPGRADE

PROJECTMANAGEMENT

REPORTING

“Get in the Zone” Networking Buttons

“

“

Networking: The Power Boost for Your COLLABORATE 12 Experience!

the week you’ll surely need these

reminders when you follow up after the

conference.

Schedule follow-up. Review that

stack of business cards and reach out

to each one with a “nice meeting you”

message and a brief reminder of what

you discussed when you met (refer

to those quick notes you jotted down

each evening). You can also connect

with your new contacts on LinkedIn,

Facebook or Twitter. Remind them

what you discussed and what you

want to continue to talk about. Did you

offer to connect them with a contact

of yours? If you promised any sort of

follow-up, now is the time to deliver it.

Make plans. Did you

meet people from

your city during the

conference? Get in

touch and make

plans for coffee or

lunch.

In closing,

COLLABORATE is a

great chance for you to forge

relationships that will last a lifetime.

Set a goal for yourself — vow not to

leave without making ten new friends

— you’ll add significant value to your

conference investment, and you’ll

enjoy your week in Las Vegas even

more.

Following Up

After the conference exchange

emails and share your conference

notes.

We asked our Twitter followers for conference networking suggestions:

@glsig: Attend @glsig session, meet fellow users/

experts and connect w them on LinkedIn!

@BTLeeBriggs: Start using Twitter - @COLLAB_

OAUG, @OAUG1 are great for sharing information (@ocp_advisor too).

“

“

37 oaug.org