*The* Conference to Meet the Developers Around the World

Countdown…5 days of Early Bird pricing left. If you are going to Kscope 11, you really should do yourself a favor and sign up before the end of the day on March 25. If you do so, you will be able to attend the best Oracle development conference in existence for the lowest possible cost. Of course, if money is no object to you, feel free to wait.

Next up, a discussion with my friend, Dimitri Gielis. Dimitri is an Oracle ACE Director who specializes in Oracle Application Express. Dimitri was also our SP Conference Content Chair for Application Express in 2010 for our successful conference in Brussels, Belgium. Come to Kscope 11 and meet Dimitri!

On to the questions…

MR: What’s the best thing about Kscope conferences?

DG: “It’s in the States, always at a nice location (this year Long Beach!) and almost every time it’s excellent weather. Next to just the logistics, the conference became *the* meeting place for all the Oracle Developers around the world. It’s so nice to meet all my virtual friends and people that send me mails or comment on my blog posts at least once a year.

Everything is arranged so well by ODTUG that we as presenters and participants don’t have to worry about all that and we can just enjoy the conference and socialize with everybody.”

MR: Who do you most look forward to seeing a presentation from at Kscope and why?

DG: “There are so many great presentations at Kscope that if I would say one favorite I wouldn’t be fair to all the others 

There are some nice APEX presentations, but also outside of APEX there are nice sessions about Oracle Development, so I might actually switch tracks sometimes.”

MR: Why Kscope and not somewhere else?

DG: “I’m asked quite a bit on many conferences to talk and I’ve been accepting a lot of them and really enjoyed them, but running your own business and having a family that wanted to see me too, made it necessary I picked the most important ones for me. So I made the decision that I’m doing the local conferences in the BeNeLux, and travel outside to ODTUG KScope, OOW andUKOUG.

Next to that I allow myself to pick one or two a year that are different and if possible I try to combine them.

As I said before, Kscope became *the* conference to meet the developers around the world. Next to that a big portion of the APEX Development team is present too. I always love to talk to these nice people who are working so hard to give us the best product possible.”

MR: Have you ever been to Long Beach or visited the Queen Mary?

DG: “I’ve been in LA many times now, but I don’t remember much about Long Beach and theQueen Mary… so I look really forward to that!

I know it’s an interview, but what can you recommend I see Mike?  ”

MR: Well, I’ve got a few ideas for you. For some great seafood, and a nice view of the Queen Mary, and within walking distance of the Convention Center, head to Gladstone’s (http://www.gladstoneslongbeach.com/ 20% off coupon here. I had the pleasure of heading there during a site visit, and the food was outstanding!

At Gladstone's - Here is a seafood platter that was prepared for us on our site visit to Long Beach

Gladstone’s is located within the popular area called the Pike at Long Beach (http://www.thepikeatlongbeach.com/). There are plenty of shops, dining establishments, and entertainment options in this location as well. (Too many to list, check it out with the link above).

For some other shopping, dining, and entertainment, head to Shoreline Village (http://www.shorelinevillage.com/). Again, this is within walking distance of the convention center. There is a place called the Yard House (http://www.yardhouse.com/default.aspx) that boasts over 250 beers on tap that should appeal to many. For you tequila lovers, one of the top 20 tequila bars in the country is called Tequila Jack’s (http://www.tequilajacks.com/).

A great way to see some of Long Beach is to take a Segway tour (http://www.segwaylb.com/). Here is a picture of Barbara Morris, ODTUG Secretary, during our site visit.

Look for some more dining, shopping, and entertainment options on the Kscope 11website coming soon.

Your all time favorite Kscope moment is…

DG: “…the first time I came to the ODTUG conference in 2006. I was so amazed by everything…”

MR: Dimitri, can you tell everyone a little bit about the new APEXBlogs website?

DG: “I redeveloped APEXBlogs from the ground up to use all the new features that come with APEX 4.0. Next to that my deepest wish is that APEXBlogs (http://www.apexblogs.info) becomes *the* portal page that brings all APEX Developers together. APEXBlogs brings all the most interesting sources around APEX together in an easy navigateble website. Blogs, Tweets, Plugins, Statistics and a knowledge base that includes an Enhancement Request/Bug database… and there is more to come. At the moment there are over 10,000 people a month visiting the site, but I hope that over the next couple of months that number will be 7 times higher! I hope everybody will promote the site and it becomes *the* platform for the APEX Developers, just like Kscope became *the* conference for APEX.”

Thanks Dimitri! Besides the APEXBlogs website, Dimitri has his own blog athttp://dgielis.blogspot.com. His company, APEX Evangelists, is located at http://www.apex-evangelists.com, and Dimitri is on twitter at @dgielis (http://www.twitter.com/dgielis).