This week, I am honored to represent my customers and my employer, Rolta AdvizeX, at HPE Discover 2016. This is the first HPE Discover event post-company split. I am going to do my best to add daily blog entries to an already packed 16-hour meeting schedule each day. I will also be trying to include interesting photos, videos, 360 degree photos and 360 degree videos in the posts, so get you VR headsets ready! I recently purchased a Ricoh Theta S 360 degree camera just for this event, so Discover will be the Theta S's maiden voyage.
Day 0 Is a Travel Day
Getting from Boston to Las Vegas is an 8 hour trip, under the best circumstances. I have been working on this blog post, as well as delighting customers, while riding two beautiful, new, large American Airlines 737s. Decent legroom, nice attendants, very nice seat back entertainment system, in-flight WiFi and POWER OUTLETS AT EVERY SEAT (My neighbor could sense my excitement at that feature).
As this is a travel day, I will bring you up to speed on what is expected to happen at HPE Discover as well as my personal schedule. If there is anything you would like me to research for you at Discover, drop me an email or submit a comment below.
HPE Discover Info
If you would like to find out more information about this year's HPE Discover, or watch live content, you can find all information here. In a nutshell, HPE states we will "Learn more about how to accelerate your unique digital transformation journey as you deliver seamless experiences, harness data, mitigate risk, enable agility and workforce productivity." There are currently 1,075 session items listed in the session scheduler.My Personal Schedule
I have been fortunate enough to attend a few Discover events since first working for HPE in 1996. I have found that the most efficient use of time for me is to:- Attend NDA (CDA) sessions. These allow me to help my customers set 3-year strategies.
- Attend Hands on Labs (HOLs). These allow me to articulate to customers where the risks are in adopting new technologies.
- Talk to Engineering or Lab Managers on the show floor. These technical managers do not spin their responses to questions - they give you the facts. They are also hungry for field feedback as some of them do not interact with customers much.
- Meet with HPE Executives to discuss strategy and customer needs
I do not attend marketing-level sessions as I am fortunate enough to be supported by a fantastic HPE Channel Team that provides marketing information on a regular basis. Here is my (slightly overlapping) personal schedule for the three days of Discover.
A Few Travel Notes
Here is a picture of the technology I packed for this trip. I'm bringing two extra cameras this time - a Pentax DSLR and the aforementioned Ricoh Theta S. If you ever travel to any trade show, bring lots of business cards. The lovely pink selfie stick, the gorilla pod, and the odd cell phone holder are all in case I need them for show floor shots or videos. Thankfully, all my battery-powered devices, except the Pentax, all charge from the same mini-USB cable. Yay for that.
Thumbs up to American Airlines again for the great new planes
Nice to see HPE welcoming us to the McCarran Airport
#HPEDiscover Welcomes you to McCarran International Airport - Spherical Image - RICOH THETA
Hats off to the taxi stand workers at the McCarran, who moved a constant line of about 500 people in 104 degree heat along smoothly.
Registration
Registration Monday evening was literally "less than 4 seconds" as the nice gentleman in the registration area of the Sands told everyone. Type your email address and your badge starts printing.HPE Discover 2016 Registration - Spherical Image - RICOH THETAHPE provided a nice small backpack with show materials to all registrants
Being a Tourist
I will not have much time to be a tourist once the conference begins Tuesday, so I took a few hours after registration to walk around and catch a show.The Sands Convention Center is connected to the Venetian Resort, so I stopped by the Canal Shops for some pictures.
I grabbed a lovely quick Reuben at the deli in the Wynn Resort and then off to Cirque du Soleil "La Reve". The theater did not seem to mind photographs as long as they did not use flash, so here is a shot of the stage. I highly recommend this show. Fantastic Cirque du Soleil as usual and an intimate theater.
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