The Queen Mary…a great British piece of workmanship

markrittman.jpgNext up on the world tour of folks to talk to about ODTUG Kscope 11 (early bird registration ends March 25) is fellow ODTUG Board Member Mark Rittman. Mark has been going to Kscope conferences for many years, and decided to run for the ODTUG Board in the fall of 2009. Since then, Mark has worked very hard for the user group, and for the calendar year 2011 is serving as the ODTUG Treasurer.

Mark’s reputation is well known as he is an Oracle ACE Director. He also helped put together the content for the BI/EPM track this year at Kscope.  Mark is also not shy about voicing his opinion, and so if I wasn’t confident in the quality of Kscope as a conference, I might not be so comfortable asking him my set of questions.

Enough background, let’s get to the questions…

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

Mark: “The best thing about the Kscope conferences are the focus on tools and techniques, and the chance to network within a friendly environment. Unlike larger events such as Oracle Open World, Kscope is small enough to get to meet many of the delegates, and there’s lots of opportunities to bump into people and have a chat between sessions, as they are all in the same venue and close together.”

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

Mark: “I look forward to seeing presentations by some of the other top consultants in the Oracle BI&DW industry, along with Oracle product managers and product developers who give us the inside story on where Oracle’s BI&DW development tools are going. For example, at Kscope11, I’m looking forward to presentations such as (see the details of the presentations here):

Mike: Why Kscope and not somewhere else?

Mark: “I actually attend most of the major conferences (Kscope, Collaborate, Oracle Open World, and the UKOUG Technology and EBS Conference in the UK) but I always particularly look forward to Kscope because of the great locations and friendly, intimate atmosphere. A couple of years ago I brought my family to Kaleidoscope in Monterey, CA, and I’m hoping to bring them over again for a future event.”

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

Mark: “No, but as a Brit, I hope you’ll all appreciate what a great British piece of workmanship the Queen Mary is. I’m sure Long Beach will be great, and I’m looking forward to getting down to the beach in my spare time and visiting the Queen Mary for the appreciation event.”

Mike: Your all time favorite Kscope moment is…

Mark: “…watching the World Cup whilst in Washington, DC last year, when England came back from 0-2 down to beat Germany4-2, and then went on to win the World Cup a week later. Oh – or was that a dream…”

Sorry Mark, I think that you were really dreaming there!

If you don’t already know about it, Mark has his own blog over athttp://www.rittmanmead.com/blog.  If you are on Twitter, you can find Mark at @markrittman.

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