Posted by Dave Greten on Tue, May 18, 2010 @ 12:42 PM
By every measure, this past SharePoint Saturday was a blowout success. With over 1,000 attendees, it was more than twice as large as any SharePoint event held previously. Which begs the question - why was the DC event so big?
According to Dux Raymond Sy, the primary organizer of the event, there were three factors:
1. They knew the demand was there. Dux had previously organized two other SharePoint Saturdays in DC, both held at Microsoft offices. And both filled quickly - one was over capacity with registrants in under three hours. Knowing demand was high, organizers felt confident going with a bigger venue.
2. SharePoint is huge in government. It has been estimated the DC area has one of the highest concentrations of SharePoint implementations in the world. This level of demand prompted one DC based consultant to say "Want a job in government? Learn SharePoint."
3. With the economy tight, corporate training has been cut - And, as a result, free training events are in high demand. "There is a hunger out there" for this kind of training, according to Dux. The DC event definitely delivered on this count, there were over 100 educational sessions held throughout the day.
Organizers of the show relied on social media to get the word out, asking speakers to "market it as if it were their own." Both speakers and attendees blogged, facebooked and twittered about it in the weeks running up to the big day.
This happened while four unpaid volunteers worked to pull the whole operation together while holding down their full-time, regular day jobs. "You can see people's commitment to the community," said Dux.
SharePoint Saturday has seen a growth in attendance nationally and globally. Look for upcoming events in your local area by checking the SharePoint Saturday site. And if you are interested in organizing one yourself, make sure to read this.
And look for our booth!
Posted by Dave Greten on Fri, May 14, 2010 @ 10:10 AM
We'll be at this weekend's SharePoint Saturday in DC, the first of its kind since the official release of SharePoint 2010. With over 1,100 registrants, it promises to be a big one! Attendees are encouraged to show up at early to catch the surprise keynote speaker.
Registration is still open and, as with all SharePoint Saturday events, completely free. This event includes a full calendar of learning sessions, many noted speakers, and prizes being raffled including netbooks, educational vouchers and iPads.
The event will be held at:
Richard J. Ernst Community Cultural Center
Northern Virginia Community College
Annadale Campus
8333 Little River Turnpike
Annandale, VA 22003-3796
If you are looking to learn more about SharePoint, meet other SharePoint professionals, or looking for a SharePoint job, this is an event you do not want to miss. See you there?
Posted by Dave Greten on Wed, May 12, 2010 @ 08:43 AM
The forecasted big turnout at this
weekend's SharePoint Saturday event (over 1,100 registrants!) has got a lot of people asking "How do I organize a SharePoint Saturday?" Fortunately,
Mark Rackley has an instructive writeup of his experience as an organizer.
Rackley encourages organizers to first find speakers and a venue. The venue is critical because it determines how much the event will cost and how many people can attend. The venue also has a significant influence on how the event will be run. "Is wireless access available? Projectors? Space for sponsors?" are all important considerations.
The next step is getting in touch with the
SharePoint Saturday crew. In Rackley's case, he worked with
Michael Lotter,
Becky Isserman, and
Dux Raymond Sy. All of these organizers had documents, directions and templates that proved extraordinarily helpful. Contacting the SharePoint Saturday organizers also landed him a listing on the official SharePoint Saturday website.
After securing all of these things, the next step is finding sponsors to pay for lunch, drinks and the venue. Optionally, sponsors can be found to provide breakfast, raffles, goody bags, and speakers' dinners. All of these 'extras' help make the event more memorable for attendees and speakers. After sponsors have been obtained, Rackley encourages you to call local hotels to check for deals available to large groups.
With the event set to go, it's time to get the word out and drive up attendance. Rackley advises contacting your regional Microsoft sales office to leverage their network, twittering and blogging about it, updating your website, printing up flyers for local distribution, inviting companies that use SharePoint and users at local user group meetings, and asking friends to spread the word.
After all these things are done - prepare yourself to run like crazy on event day! If you are serious about organizing a SharePoint Saturday, Rackley's article is invaluable and you should read the
entire report in full.
Posted by Dave Greten on Wed, Apr 28, 2010 @ 12:43 PM
We'll be at
SharePoint Saturday this weekend in Houston, TX.
This free conference features a full lineup of speakers talking about topics ranging from boosting SharePoint performance to building richer web applications within SharePoint 2010. A full schedule of speakers is available here (PDF file).
The conference will be held at
Norris Conference Center
803 Town & Country Lane
Houston, TX 77024
from 9:00 to 6:00.
Registration is free and open to the public. You can look for upcoming SharePoint Saturdays in your local area by checking the SharePoint Saturday website.
Looking forward, we'll be at the SharePoint Saturday being held on May 15th in Washington DC. That event promises to be huge, with over 900 attendees registered so far. For a a map and complete calendar of SharePoint events we will be attending, see our events page.
Posted by Dave Greten on Thu, Feb 25, 2010 @ 11:35 AM
Axceler will be in New Orleans this weekend for SharePoint Saturday. One of the top ten cities for tourists in the nation, this was not a tough sell.
And the good news is registration is still open and, like all SharePoint Saturdays, completely free.
Sessions include "An IT Managers Guide to New Features in SharePoint 2010" and "Building Infopath Applications in SharePoint 2010" among many others. You can read the entire schedule here. Hope we see you there!
Posted by Ken Allen on Wed, Jul 01, 2009 @ 10:52 AM
Join SharePoint architects, developers, and other professionals that work with Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 for
‘SharePoint Saturday', on Saturday, September 12th, 2009. SharePoint Saturday will be an educational, informative & lively day filled with sessions from respected SharePoint professionals & MVPs, covering a wide variety of SharePoint-orientated topics. SharePoint Saturday is FREE, open to the public and is your local chance to immerse yourself in SharePoint!
Posted by Ken Allen on Fri, Jun 26, 2009 @ 09:00 AM
Join SharePoint architects, developers, and other professionals that work with Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 for ‘SharePoint Saturday', on Saturday, July 11th, 2009 at the Microsoft Canada headquarters located on 1950 Meadowvale Blvd in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada.
SharePoint Saturday will be an educational, informative & lively day filled with sessions from respected SharePoint professionals & MVPs, covering a wide variety of SharePoint-orientated topics. SharePoint Saturday is FREE, open to the public and is your local chance to immerse yourself in SharePoint!
More details and registration here