The main purpose in holding it in Atlanta was to have it at the Infor
facility where the developers could be available. If it is not held at
Infor, the location is irrelevant.
-----Original Message-----
From: mapics-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx
[
mailto:mapics-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Steve Sandy
Sent: Tuesday, May 22, 2007 10:44 PM
To: mapics-l@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [MAPICS-L] Integrator Users Group Conference Recap
Everyone...
I wanted to post a quick note about the details of the first Integrator
Users Group Conference last week at the Infor Corporate Office. More
information will become available some time next week in regards to
Powerpoint presentations and how to access these via the Internet.
Meeting Summary :
The meeting was attended by 30 different companies (43 people excluding
Infor execs) from 18 different states and 1 person from a company in
Denmark. Since this was the first meeting, we really didn't know how in
depth the attendees wanted to get. Some users were new to the product.
Some intermediate users wanted to see how other customers were using the
product and some of the more advanced users wanted to see tips and
techniques on how to use the product even more and make suggestions for
future releases. The day and one half conference was a success due to
the following.
8 Customer Presentations that showed how the product was being used.
NOTE: (6 additional customers showed interest in presenting at the next
conference).
Detailed Presentations on System Performance, how to use the Enterprise
Integrator Transaction Broker, an overview on the new soon-to-be
released Link Manager, and an introduction to the new Environment
Maintenance application filled out the Thursday afternoon and Friday
morning sessions.
Our intentions were to cover Web Services and System Link in detail but
due to time constraints from interest generated from the other
presentations, we did not cover these topics but plan to at the next
conference. Overall, the positive feedback I have received in emails
has been overwhelming. Attached are a few quotations I received in
emails from attendees.
Attendee Quotations :
"Just to let you know the conference this past week was great; I saw
things I had been looking for in MAPICS for a long time. This meeting
was certainly time well spent! We are not a big Integrator fans or users
(our attempts have been frustrating and unsuccessful), so it was good to
see how other folks are successfully using the product. We will
certainly revisit how this product can provide value to our
organization. You guys did a great job and I, for one, appreciate all
the work you put into making this such a successful event!"
"Thanks so much for all your time & efforts to make this happen. It was
a very worth while session and I am looking forward to it continuing."
"Thanks for initiating this meeting, the number of attendees shows the
need and interest."
Next Meeting and Content :
A closing session opened the floor to questions, comments and
suggestions about the next conference. It was decided by the group that
the next users conference will NOT occur at the Infor Users Conference
in September in Las Vegas. This decision was made mainly because many
felt that an extra day and half on the front end or the back end of the
conference would not be time well spent. Many hours of planning are
necessary to put on this conference and Infor Execs are spending many
more hours putting on the main conference. The second reason is many
customers are ready to head back to the office after 3 days of the users
conference and many felt that a different date would be better suited.
This was agreed to by over 95% of the attendees so it was decided to
have the next conference in Atlanta in late October 2007. We are
considering something near the Atlanta airport to eliminate the need for
early airline departures due to traffic concerns and car rental
expenses. Many in the group wanted to have after work hours get
togethers in order to create a better networking atmosphere. Specific
expenses (we will have split the cost of a meeting room among attendees)
and specific dates will come later this summer. Content will be based
on input from the attendees at last week conference plus any suggestions
sent to eiusersgroup_gmail.com where _ is @.
Content at the next meeting will cover:
System Link (in depth examples on how customers are using it)
Web Services (this will be a very detailed session on how to use the
product)
Birds of a Feather (open forum sessions during lunch and mid afternoon
that will give attendees the floor to discuss their every day challenges
with the products we use and to even see other customer examples.
Final Comments :
A question was asked during the first day. Who's the owner of the
Integrator Users Group? Phil Joseph's response... you, the Customer.
This is not a group sponsored by Infor nor will Infor be participating
in each and every session in the future. There are talks about a few one
hour Webex presentations that cover specific topics about Integrator.
The key will be finding a topic that everyone has an interest in. I am
working with an Infor Services Affiliate that will allow access to the
Integrator Users Group Conference Powerpoint presentations and we will
be sending out information containing a link and user IDs and passwords
for anyone that is interested.
I would like to thank everyone for attending this conference. I believe
this conference will become an informational tool for business and one
that every IT professional will want to attend. If you have questions,
please contact me at any time.
Steve Sandy
DMI Furniture Inc.
502-638-5740
midrange.com
