Next in my series of talks with ODTUG Kaleidoscope 2010 presenters and attendees is a discussion with Gary Crisci.
MR: Which presentation of yours is a “can’t miss” session that Kaleidoscope attendees should plan on attending, and why?
GC: “I’m doing the intro session on ASO (Essbase ASO: The Best Thing Since Sliced Data) this year. If you are not familiar with ASO you should sit in to see what it has to offer. If you are familiar with ASO, you should still sit in because I will be catering part of the session towards an implementation strategy we are using at Morgan Stanley to gain huge performance increases using ASO.”
MR: Who else should Kaleidoscope attendees plan on seeing a session from, and why?
GC: “Mike Nader is one of the best Essbase technicians I have seen. He was my instructor when I was first learning Essbase and to this day I make a point of sitting in on any presentation he gives, because I always pickup something useful. Mike’s hands-on-labs were a big hit last year and I am sure he will deliver again this year. Another presentation worth sitting it on should be “Essbase ASO Performance – When NOT to depend on MDX” by Dan Pressman. Dan discussed his presentation with me one day over lunch and I was very impressed by his knowledge and the way he was approaching some useful topics in ASO like how to optimize time roll-ups. He comes at it from a different angle and it is very interesting.”
MR: What differentiates Kaleidoscope as a conference from other conferences out there?
GC: “Most conferences are a salute to the vendor or at least the sponsoring partners. Kaleidoscope is different because ODTUG puts the user first. The conference is built around what is best for the end users and then figures out how to leverage Oracle and select partners to meet that goal. No other conference has that kind of emphasis on attendees.”
MR: If you’ve been to Washington before, can you recommend one thing that a first time visitor should take advantage of while visiting during Kaleidoscope?
GC: “Nothing specific. It is our nation’s capital and there are some amazing things to see.”
MR: Can you tell us what your best memory is from a Kaleidoscope conference that you’ve attended previously?
GC: “Last year during a presentation I was giving, an attendee asked a question I did not know the answer to. I looked to some of the guys from Oracle who were sitting in the audience and they did not have the answer either. Another attendee spoke up about this little known feature and explained how it worked and how he was using it. I remember thinking to myself how awesome it was to have that much talent and experience in one room and knowing that you could not find that anywhere else.”
Thanks for your time Gary! I look forward to hearing your comments about these interviews. Is there someone else that you would like me to try and interview? Are there other questions you would like for me to ask?
Look for more news, announcements, contests and giveaways in the very near future as the Kaleidoscope conference rapidly approaches. Your time to take advantage of the lowest possible registration rate during the Early Bird time period is coming to a close soon. Make sure and tell them that you heard about the conference on the ODTUG Blog!!
