Steve, Michael, Amy, Susan and I got together with Eric Vallo and several other folks at the conference last week to talk about the origin of BOB. Amy and Susan were the co-moderators of the mailing list that became what we know as BOB today. Steve and Michael are current BOB moderators and were part of the initial discussions when we discussed options for transitioning into something beyond the list. The five of us had a great time reminiscing about how BOB came about.
Have a listen!
I did not do much blogging at the conference this year, primarily because I was always doing something! I had two presentations on Monday, followed by an interview session with ASUG News on Tuesday morning, followed by my participation in the Leadership 2.0 session Tuesday afternoon, the BI 4.0 launch celebration Tuesday night, a usability study for an interesting new potential product this morning, and my flight home. 
Over the next few days I will attempt to turn my notes taking at the various sessions into blog posts, as well as upload my two sessions for download both here and on the conference web site.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of you that took the time to come up to me at the conference and say how much you appreciated either BOB or my blog. As long as I have been doing this sort of stuff (on BOB we will be celebrating our 10-year anniversary next year) hearing from people never ever gets old. Thank you for taking the time to let me know that you have been helped in some fashion.
I gave away one of the last remaining BOB hats at my session yesterday. Just another reason to try to come to the SAP Business Objects conference next year.
They added an additional day next year to focus on analytics. Still getting information on what that means as far as extra cost and what content will look like.
Are you attending the SAP Business Objects user conference in Orlando next week? If so, look for an email soon inviting you to a special lunchtime panel discussion on social media, influence, and leadership called “Leadership 2.0” and featuring folks such as Cindi Howson, Lisa Leslie, Timo Elliott, and … somehow… me. 
Reservations will be required as space is limited to the first 100 people to sign up. I think they’re planning on sending out an email to all folks registered for the conference, but you can get a jump on reserving your spot by going to the reservation page.
The panel will run from 12:30 to 2:30pm on Tuesday, October 11th and will include a lunch. The Twitter hash tag for the event will be #L2dot0.
Added Information
If you’re not attending the conference, you can still participate. There is a dial-in number where you can listen, and you can post questions via the hashtag mentioned above. Here’s the call information:
Participant Access Instructions – Dial in 5-10 minutes prior to start time using the Participant Phone Number and Participant Passcode.
Participant Passcode: 690937
Toll-Free Phone Number (United States/Canada): 877-702-9054
Toll Phone Number (International): 913-312-1229
Earlier this year I got to see Web Intelligence 4.0 documents on an iPad. It was one of my few tweet-worthy nuggets that I shared from the BI 4.0 launch event. A few weeks ago I started building out some reports for a co-worker so we could experiment with MOBI and see just how well it worked in our environment. Along the way I picked up a copy of the “known limitations” document from SAP. Some of them are big, perhaps even show-stoppers for many folks. Continue reading “Web Intelligence on iPad – Not Ready For Prime Time Yet”
2011 has flown by, and before I realize it I’ll be heading down to Orlando for the SAP Business Objects User Conference (#SBOUC hash tag). This year I have two sessions, both on Monday. For the first session I have the honor of opening up the “Building a Data Warehouse” series that was suggested by Werner Daehn. When he first mentioned the concept to me my first thought was, “what a great idea!” I’m really glad it came to fruition. What is it, exactly? I am participating in the first ever “group topic” at SBOUC. Werner wanted to show the complete development cycle, from database design all the way through to report delivery. He came up with the initial concept and outline and posted it on BOB, and then various folks submitted talks to fill in the various slots. Werner has as couple of slots, Michael Welter did the universe design, Dell Stinnett will bring Crystal into the mix, and Simon To will be presenting the Web Intelligence session. Here’s the full schedule as I have it today:
- Monday 9:30 AM – 10:30 PM Dave Building a Data Warehouse: Data Modeling
- Monday 10:45 AM – 11:45 AM Werner Building a Data Warehouse: Getting the data into the DWH database
- Monday 1:30 PM – 2:30 PM Michael Building a Data Warehouse: Building a Universe
- Tuesday 9:30 AM – 10:30 AM Dell 0106 Building a Data Warehouse: Intro to SAP Crystal Reports
- Tuesday 1:30 PM – 2:30 PM Simon 2008 Building a Data Warehouse: Report Development in SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence
- Wednesday 9:15 AM – 10:15 AM Werner 8012 Building a Data Warehouse: Data Quality is key for BI
- Wednesday 10:30 AM – 11:30 AM Werner 8013 Building a Data Warehouse: Enhance the DWH with external data
I won’t get to attend all of the sessions in this series, because immediately after I open with the data modeling talk I will have to jog over to another room to present my second talk titled “Universe Designer Essentials.” I’m all done with my presentations after Monday.
It’s hard to believe that I attended my first Business Objects conference in 1995 (spoke for the first time in 1996) and here we are 17 years later. I must have been 17 when I attended my first one. 
Timo Elliott published a great blog post this morning:
Why In-Memory Analytics is Like Digital Photography: An Industry Transformation
Timo is an avid photographer as well as a BI evangelist, and in this post he combines his knowledge of both, making some excellent points along the way. It’s well worth hopping over to his blog to check it out.
SAP had some fun on the BI 4.0 launch in New York last February. For years SAP along with other vendors have been touting their ability to import and analyze external data from various social media sources. Two SAP presenters at the launch event took a vote via Twitter as to which tie would meet the “Scissors of Destiny” at the end of the session. (Steve Lucas made an impassioned plea to save his tie, which he said was a gift from his wife, versus Dave’s tie which he “… just bought last night.” Steve won, and his blue tie survived.) It was a fun display of technology, but is it really that important? How impressive would it have been if the “fail whale” had picked that moment to make an appearance?
I don’t usually spend a lot of time here on my blog talking about philosophical aspects of BI as I am personally more interested in technical issues and solving problems. But the apparent consensus as to the importance of social media bugs me. Continue reading “Social Media – I Don’t Get It, But Spammers Do”
Can’t raise the budget to get to the SAP BusinessObjects user conference next month? Or maybe you’re already booked, but think your finance department would love it if you got a rebate for your conference costs? All you have to do is mention a few hash tags in a tweet, and you could get your expenses covered (read the fine print for details). Contest void where prohibited. Batteries not included. Your mileage may vary.
As a follow-up from the SAP TechEd opening keynote on gamification and the power of online gamers:
Gamers solve molecular puzzle that stumped scientists
Scientists had long been puzzled by the molecular structure of a protein-cutting enzyme classified as a “retroviral proteases” and found in an AIDS-like virus afflicting rhesus monkeys. The enzyme helps the virus spread, and it could hold a secret about how AIDS and other diseases are transmitted.
The scientists uploaded the viral structures to an online game called “Foldit” which allows game players to collaborate on solving various three dimensional problems. The results?
Sure, that might not sound like much fun to the average Joe. But gamers on Foldit solved the puzzle in less than 10 days.
More detailed article at MSNBC.com
