You may want to consider sponsoring the ILUG 2007 conference in Dublin
by Volker Weber
This conference is going to be full. I am not really sure why it is called the Irish Lotus User Group conference, since it is so international. Maybe the I stands for International instead of Irish. The three biggest groups are from Germany, Ireland and the UK, but there are also delegates from the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Israel, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, South Africa, Spain and the US. You will not only find some of the best speakers in the community, but also very knowledgeable delegates, amongst them the best Notes professionals I have had the pleasure to work with. This has the potential of growing into something much larger.
This year Paul is finding it much easier to enlist sponsors for the conference. Last year I had to be a little bit provocative and but that is no longer necessary. Since last year's conference was so successful, IBM got involved pretty early and is bringing in people who will demonstrate Notes 8, Quickr and Connections. The other premium sponsor is Research In Motion, which also means that delegates will have the opportunity to win a new BlackBerry 8800.
If your marketing budget has some money looking for a good investment, you should think about adding yourself to the list of sponsors. Paul explains the opportunities on this page, but you need to get in touch with him. He can make several different arrangements depending on how much you would like to get involved.
Comments
Sounds like the new Lotuspere Europe? Except... it's free? I do wonder how many people "almost full" means, by the way. Lotusphere Europe usually pulled about a third to a half of the Orlando crowd?
I'm sooooooo wishing I lived closer.
A lot of european professionals can't afford to go to the Lotusphere. It's my case. Traveling in Ireland is quite cheap and Hotel is not as expensive as Orlando.
The best speakers in the community will be there. For the future of this event, I hope it'll be longer (3 days) and I wouldn't be shocked if they ask delegates to pay something even symbolic.
See you in Dublin, Julien
Adeleida, you woult not believe how many Europeans wish they'd live where you live. :-) If you click on my third link you will see that Paul explains the scope of the event. It is much smaller than you assume, and this is a good thing because everybody gets to ask questions and can interact.
Economies of scale don't work for conferences. A small conference is much cheaper than a large one. The risk that Paul and Eileen are taking now is already quite high. Trying to prepare a conference with thousands of attendees would be extremely hazardous for their finances. The cost jumps from 5 to 7 digits.
Julien, the conference has already grown from one to two days. You can make it for by staying over the weekend. I am pretty sure that you will find lots of people to discuss with.
Thanks for the info, Volker. Yes, I take back wanting to live closer ;) .
Perhaps it is just time to start thinking about an A(frica)LUG. Now that would be cool.
