OOW 2009 Ace Directors Briefing

One of the biggest benefits afforded Oracle ACE Directors is the opportunity to be briefed on upcoming product developments by Oracle product managers. This was the first such briefing I was able to fit into my schedule at Oracle headquarters and it was very interesting to hear about some of the upcoming features in the expansive product line.

The briefing was all day Friday and thus I flew out Thursday on American Airlines. One of the reasons I picked American is due to the ads they ran a year or so ago where they claimed to have added 5" between the rows to give passengers more legroom. In my seat, it seemed as though they took 5" *away* between the seats. To use my laptop, I literally had to put the keyboard in my chest and look down at the screen in my lap. I normally fly to the west coast on Southwest despite the fact that I have to get to Nashville to catch the flight; this seems to be the most frequent destination for my personal airplane as I fly myself to Nashville, then ride Southwest from there. I think I have learned my lesson and will be on Southwest next time.

Oracle put all of the ACE Directors up at the Sofitel on Thursday night. I checked in, dumped my stuff in my room and headed downstairs. In the lobby I ran into Tracy McMullen, another EPM ACE Director and co-author of a number of Essbase and Planning books with Edward Roske. She was in town to work on the Planning beta, so we sat and talked for a bit. If you haven't had the pleasure to meet Tracy, she is not only one of the brightest minds in EPM, but she is very proud Mom who was heading home Friday for a birthday celebration for her 5-year-old.

At the briefing on Friday, there was some content on BI and EPM, however, much of the content was an introduction for the ACE Directors from other disciplines. One thing that was apparent from the presentation is the continued integration of EPM, and particularly Essbase, into the remainder of the Oracle product stack.

When the briefing was over, the ACE Directors boarded a bus for our hotel in San Francisco. All of the ACE Directors are at the Intercontinental Hotel beside Moscone West. It just so happens the Hyperion pavilion with a concentration of Hyperion vendor kiosks, is located at the Intercontinental. If you are coming to San Francisco, be sure to stop and visit our kiosk there (and pickup a Dodeca long-sleeve T-Shirt while supplies last!)

My evening ended after dinner with Edward Roske at a restaurant owned by an old friend. Gino Assaf, who formerly owned my favorite restaurant in the world, Restaurante Gondola, has opened a new Italian place in the Mission District called Speccio. If you get to San Francisco, I highly recommend you visit Gino and tell him I said hello!