Kscope15 Abstract deadline is Wednesday, October 15!

Kscope15 abstract submission will close in just a few days and the ODTUG content teams want you!

I am sure there are many of you who have never done a presentation at a conference and may not feel comfortable speaking in public. Well, I have a secret for you, despite the fact that I won the Best Speaker Award at Kscope14, I share your discomfort with speaking. What works for me, however, is that I only speak about topics that I know very well. Do you have some area of expertise that you know really well? If you do, please share it! It will be fun and all of your peers who learn something new, from you, will appreciate it!

With that, take the next step and click here to submit session!

Meet the Oracle ACE Directors Panel - January 9 - Seattle

I will be in Seattle on Thursday, January 9th for the Meet the Oracle ACE Directors Panel.  It is at the Sheraton Seattle from 4 - 6 pm and will feature several other ACE Directors including Martin D'Souza, Kellyn Pot'Vin, Tim Gorman, and my longtime friend and collaborator, Cameron Lackpour.  

Come see and the panel and stay for the Happy Hour; the beer will be on me!

http://kscope14.com/events/seattle-street-tea

Save $250 on Kscope14 Registration Now!

If you work in the Essbase, Oracle EPM, or Oracle BI world, *the* place to be every June is the annual Kscope conference.  Registration is open for the next conference, Kscope14, coming next June in Seattle, WA.  If you are not currently a full ODTUG member, let me tell you how you can save $250 on the $1650 registration fee.

There are two steps you have to take to "save big".  First, become a full member of ODTUG for $99 and enjoy all of the benefits, including access to a members-only presentations library, throughout the year.  Next, register for Kscope14 and you are eligible for the members-only price of $1500 for a savings of $150.  While you are registering, simply use the code AOLAP to get an additional $100 discount!

My company, Applied OLAP, is one of top-tier Platinum Sponsors of Kscope14 and I will be there.  I hope to see you at the conference and, if you were able to save some money by using our exclusive AOLAP code, be sure to stop our booth, say hello, and learn how the Dodeca Spreadsheet Management System can help your company reduce spreadsheet risk, increase spreadsheet accuracy, and reduce costs.

Kscope13 Top Speaker Award

I thought I would post a quick picture of the award I earned at Kscope13 as one of the Top 5 Speakers at Kscope13 for my presentation entitled "Introducing the Outline Extractor NG (Next Generation)".   The Next Generation Outline Extractor is a complete rewrite of the popular Outline Extractor.  The original extractor was written in VB which hasn't been supported by Microsoft for many years; the new extractor is written in Java.  You can download my slides, and the next generation outline extractor, from our website at http://www.appliedolap.com/downloads.

I was honored to earn the award which is based on some secret formula combining feedback scores from attendees and number of attendees.  I did have a couple of hundred or so attendees at my presentation which, in my opinion, speaks to the popularity of the outline extractor and not to the popularity of me having anything to say... <BigGrin>

Here is a picture of the nice award sent by ODTUG.

Find Your Brilliance

I’d like to interrupt our regularly scheduled programming to tell you about one my personal highlight's of Kscope 13 which was held back in June in New Orleans. Every year ODTUG announces who the keynote speaker will be well in advance of the conference. Most of the time, the speaker is a person of note; interesting, relevant, sometimes even inspiring. And then there are those times when, frankly, I’m not particularly interested in them or what they have to say. But this year was different. At the end of January, ODTUG announced that the Kscope 13 keynote speaker would be Doc Hendley.

Who is Doc Hendley, you ask? Well, from my perspective, Doc Hendley is one of the most inspiring and truly extraordinary individuals I’ve ever come across. And after meeting him and having the privilege of spending time with him in New Orleans, I’m proud and truly humbled to be able to call this man a friend. He is truly extraordinary, which is ironic when you consider that Doc thinks of himself as “just an ordinary, regular, everyday guy.”

Let me tell you, Doc is anything but. This is the story of how a boy who grew up in Greensboro, North Carolina saved thousands of lives all the way across the globe and in the process, proved to himself and everyone else that one person – even an ordinary regular everyday person - can do something extraordinary.

Doc was “just a bartender” and musician who worked and played in nightclubs in Raleigh, NC. In fact, bartending was the only job he’d ever had. But in his own words, he was “dying to make a difference in this world.” In 2003, standing behind the bar, he heard that polluted water kills more children globally than HIV/AIDS, Malaria, and Tuberculosis combined, yet at that time, no one aware of this crisis.

So what did Doc do? In his words, "He got angry, he got pissed off, he took action." And he did it the only way he knew how. He tapped into the "marginalized people in his community, the bar crowd, the regulars"  – the people that everyone else said were too ordinary - to create Wine to Water, an organization that would take him to the site of the greatest humanitarian disaster in the world – Darfur, Sudan, and eventually to 9 other countries. Doc lived in Darfur for a year, and taught the locals how to clean their water and utilize their own resources to keep it clean.

Ordinary guy? I don’t think so.

I watched his TEDx talk on YouTube before going to Kscope13. I was so moved by what he’d done, so overwhelmed, and so energized, that I made everyone in my company watch it before the conference. I wanted every person who worked for me to hear what Doc had to say, and to understand how we all can change the world if we try.  I love Doc's commitment to his cause and I hope we remain friends for a long time to come.

I know my commitments don't allow me to travel the world helping others like Doc does on a regular basis, but that doesn't mean I can't help.  We decided that Applied OLAP could help support the efforts of Wine to Water and so I presented Doc with a $5,000 check as our small contribution. During his keynote speech, Doc demonstrated, again, how one person, one donation, can change the world. I’m pledging to find a way to make a difference in the world too.

After all, I’m a regular ordinary every day kind of guy too.

Announcing Kscope13 Platinum Sponsor – Applied OLAP and Dodeca!

We are happy to announce that Applied OLAP and our flagship product, The Dodeca Spreadsheet Management System, have signed up as a Platinum Sponsor for the Kscope13 conference in New Orleans.  We believe that the conference, which runs from June 25 to June 28, is not only the best forum for Hyperion related content, but it is also the best place for Hyperion related vendors to show their products.

There are several events at Kscope13 that you should not miss.  The first event is the annual ODTUG Community Service Day on Saturday, June 24.  This year, ODTUG volunteers will be working to improve a school with a new coat of paint, landscaping and playground improvements.  The community service project is also a good time to meet others who share your interests.  I have made a number of new friends at these projects over the years.

The next can’t miss event is the Sunday Symposium.  The Symposiums are one of the only times during the year that you can get direct contact with the Oracle development team.   One of the cool things about the symposium is that Oracle not only talks about the new things they are working on over the next year, but they also spend a lot of time listening to the wishes of customers.

Last week, ODTUG announced the identity of the keynote speaker and, frankly, there have been many conferences where the keynote just didn’t interest me.  This conference will be different.  The story of the Kscope13 keynote speaker, Doc Hendley, is amazing and inspirational.  Doc is the founder of Wine To Water, an organization who is working to bring sustainable, clean fresh water to parts of the world that desperately need water.  I watched his TEDx Asheville presentation on YouTube and all I can say is this..  WOW!.  I can’t wait to meet Doc in New Orleans.

Finally, last time Kscope was in New Orleans, there was a Wednesday night Hyperion social event that wound its way down Bourbon Street.  There were about 22 of us that made that journey; this year I expect that number to be in the hundreds (and that is *after* the traditional Wednesday night Kscope “special event”, the just announced party at Blaine Kern’s Mardi Gras World.

As a vendor, I hope you get to spend time in the vendor hall and visit all of the vendors to learn about their products and services.  As a self-funded user group, ODTUG relies on these vendors help provide the funding to put on a great conference plus you may find some tools to help you in your job.  If your company uses spreadsheets, I would be especially happy to tell you about the benefits our customers realize using The Dodeca Spreadsheet Management System.
 
As a Platinum Sponsor, we can also help you save money on your Kscope13 registration.  Use the special code AOLAP when you register for Kscope13 and save $100 on your registration.  You can learn more about Kscope13 and register for the conference at www.kscope13.com.

See you there!

Two Weeks Left to Vote in the ODTUG Board of Directors Elections

If you are a paid ODTUG member, you only have two weeks left to vote for the slate of candidates for the ODTUG Board of Directors.  The Board of Directors guides the business of the organization, including its largest event, the annual Kscope conference.

This year, there are 11 professionals, including me, running for 4 spots on the board.  The candidates include 1 Oracle Application Express specialist, 4 database tools specialists, and 6 Hyperion/EPM specialists.  I think I can speak for all of the candidates when I say we are all willing to volunteer many, many hours to help the various communities that comprise ODTUG.  Don't forget to make your contribution to the community and vote.  If I am re-elected to the Board of Directors, I will be happy to serve you and will feel lucky to serve with any and all of this year's candidates.

ODTUG provides many opportunities to volunteer and contribute to the Oracle EPM user community.  If you are interested in getting more involved, let ODTUG know at http://www.odtug.com/volunteer.

That's a lot of bananas!

A couple of weeks ago, I was talking with a Dodeca customer that is in the grocery business and they were talking about their new Dodeca-based labor planning application.  During the testing of their new system, one of their planners found an error in the amount of time that each grocery store allocates daily for placing bananas on the shelves.  That doesn't seem like a big deal, right?  Well, it turns out that it is a big deal.

The excess labor being allocated to this task totals about 30 minutes per day per store.  This particular customer has around 2,500 stores and has estimated the cost savings from this particular labor planning correction to be around $5,000,000 per year.  That's a lot of bananas!

This customer will be just one of four customers participating in a session with us at Kscope where they will be sharing more information about how they are using Dodeca and the cost savings they are realizing from the software.  If you are coming to Kscope, be sure to join us in our session entitled "Solving the Performance Management Puzzle: Dodeca® Customers Reveal Their Answers" on Tuesday, June 26 at 9:45 am.   If you are not signed up for Kscope12 yet, you can still join us by registering at www.kscope12.com.

Kscope 12 Early Bird Deadline is Almost Here

If you are planning to attend Kscope 12 in San Antonio and you have not yet registered, be sure to register this week as Early Bird discounts end next Monday and the price goes up $150 $300. Better yet, register this week and use the Applied OLAP discount code, AOLAP, and you will save another $100.

Kscope features the world's most intensive learning opportunities for Essbase, Hyperion Planning, Hyperion Financial Management, Oracle Application Express (APEX) and Oracle Fusion Middleware.  Register today and I will see you there!

Kscope 2012 Sessions and Discount Code

Sorry I haven't posted anything in the past month or so, but recently I have been spending all of my writing efforts on some material for an upcoming book.  Thankfully, my writing on that project is now complete and I hope to spend more time writing here.

Since I posted last, I have learned I will be giving two presentations at Kscope12.  On Monday, 6/25/2012, I will be presenting on the topic of Oracle Fusion Accounting Hub: Where Oracle Fusion and Essbase Become One.  I think this will be a very interesting session that talks about the strategic importance of Essbase in the Oracle Fusion stack.  On Thursday, 6/28/2012, I will be presenting Advanced Essbase Java API Tips and Tricks.  I have done this session at the last several Kscope conferences, but try to add new content each time.

This year, Kscope12 features four distinct Hyperion related tracks including tracks for Hyperion Applications, EPM Business Content, Essbase and Beginner Essbase.  The session schedule is now posted on the Kscope website at http://caat.odtug.com/odtug_caat/caat_abstract_reports.location_schedule?conference_id=90&location_group=ALL.

If you have not yet registered for Kscope, register today and use the Applied OLAP discount code, AOLAP, to save $100 off your registration.  You can register for Kscope 2012 at http://kscope12.com/registration.  I am headed to the conference hotel tonight to help with conference planning and to participate in the ODTUG Board of Directors meeting.  In a previous board meeting, I voted for the selection of this property, the JW Marriott Hill Country, as the location for Kscope 2012 as I believe it will be a great place to learn and it will be a great place for families to play (while us tech people learn).   This will be my first visit to the property and I will let you know what I think.

Kscope 11 Opening Session: Behind the Scenes

Frankly, most opening sessions at software conferences, with a few exceptions, are pretty forgettable.  I will never forget the Kscope11 opening session.  This is my backstage story.

The ODTUG Board of Directors, myself included, had no idea what we were getting into when Edward Roske was named the Conference Chairman.  I knew Edward had a flair for the dramatic; does anyone else remember the Solutions session from his company that was structured as a musical?   So, what did Edward have in mind for us?  Well, instead of announcing the location of Kscope12 with a slide or two, Edward wrote a 'screenplay' spoofing reality shows starring, you guessed it, the ODTUG Board of Directors!  Yes, we all had plenty of opportunities of make fools of ourselves in public!   As we were so close to LA, we had a professional film crew put together these spoofs!  We filmed all of these videos over about a 7 hour stretch on Saturday, one day before the conference started.   I was in the first four of the videos.  The first reality show?  Survivor!

As people were dismissed from each reality show, they were introduced as the next speaker.  Edward was dismissed in Survivor, via unanimous vote no less, and went on stage to welcome attendees to the conference.  Next up?  American Idol.  Keep in mind as you watch this video that we all selected our own songs and tried to make them very funny.  Further, the panel, comprised of interRel employees Terrance Walker and Danielle White, joined by ODTUG Board Member Mark Rittman (who played a spot-on Simon Cowell), had no idea what songs we were planning to sing, so you get to see their real reactions.

I picked the my song, 'Thank God I'm a Country Boy', as I thought it would crack up the panel, especially if I dressed up in some nice threads for the gig.  Actually, I did grow up on a farm in Michigan, so I really am a bit of a country boy..  Karen Cannell, the ODTUG Journal editor, cracked me up with her song.  She had actually never heard the song before and had to learn it out in the hall just before her performance.   Trivia note: Karen is wearing my Michigan hat that I got a the 2008 Citrus Bowl when my Michigan Wolverines beat the Florida Gators.

Next up was Big Brother.  We filmed all of these videos on Saturday afternoon and I was exhausted after the board meeting all day on Friday and the Saturday Community Service Project (where I restored 3 foosball tables at a Boys and Girls Club).  I was actually sleeping on the floor during portions of filming of this spoof.

There was a scene cut from Big Brother due to the lack of time.  I was supposed to do a 'surprised coming out of the shower scene' as they feature on Big Brother.  Unfortunately, due to my utter exhaustion, I didn't think of a really funny ending for the next spoof, The Bachelorette., until the next day.  More on that after the video.

Yes, Cameron and I, the EPM guys, both met our demise in The Bachelorette  We thought Danielle would certainly give us a rose as she is also a good EPM citizen, but we were sadly mistaken.   By the way, the drama after the dismissal, with Cameron refusing the hug and me having to give her an 'uncomfortably long' hug were both late script changes, but they were actually planned.  Of course, I didn't mind doing my part for ODTUG.     

OK, back to the cut Big Brother scene..  I woke up the next morning and realized we had missed an opportunity for a big laugh..  My thought is that the shower scene should be at the end of 'The Bachelorette' and after I had been dismissed.  I would be surprised coming out of the shower and would exit stage left while the camera stay focused on the shower door.  After about 5 or 6 seconds, Danielle would peek out, look both ways and then sneak away..  I think it would have been a huge laugh!

Cameron and I were then introduced and our job, on-stage, was to introduce the keynote speaker, Joey Asher.  Joey is an author and the founder of a company called SpeechWorks that helps companies communicate better.  The thing is, we introduced a fake version of Joey; it was actually geek comedian Don McMillen.  Don was extremely funny.  Here is a video posted to YouTube by someone in the audience.

After Don McMillen and the real Joey Asher spoke, the next spoof was 'So You Think You Can Dance'.  Board Members David Schleis and Month Latiolais absolutely cracked me up in this video which, by the way, I didn't see until just before the opening session.

Finally, the last spoof was 'The Amazing Race'.  Most of the race was held on Segway's through the sidewalks of Long Beach.  Actually, the entire ODTUG Board did a Segway tour of the facilities on the Thursday before the conference.  It was fun and only a couple of us fell off our Segway during the tour (Hello Edward and Fred).

The race ended on-stage with ODTUG President Mike Riley edging out Board Member John King by a nose.  Mike then had the honor of announcing that KScope12 is coming to San Antonio, Texas!  Next year, we will be at the JW Marriott Hill Country which features 2 TPC golf courses, a spa, an on-site 6 acre waterpark and an on-site, 100-acre nature preserve.  Plan to bring your family to enjoy the facilities while you learn the latest from the experts in the Essbase, Planning, HFM, OBIEE, APEX, PL/SQL, Database Development and Fusion Middleware.

The Kscope12 website is now open.  You can register for the conference, book a room, or even submit an abstract to be a speaker at www.kscope12.com.

Kscope11 Lunch and Learn Session - EPM

Here is a link to the EPM Lunch and Learn session which was a panel discussion with a number of us Oracle ACE Directors.  This was one of my favorite sessions of the week though I am bias as I am on the panel.  I was so exhausted by this time of the week, I was just hoping I could put together my sentences without stumbling or degrading into gibberish.

One of my favorite sections of this session was my debate with OBIEE expert, fellow Oracle ACE Director and fellow ODTUG Board of Directors member Mark Rittman.  The debate starts somewhere around the 22:30 mark and, though Mark makes some good points about OBIEE and Essbase and OBIEE itself has some magic in flattening Essbase so data can be mixed/matched with relational data in a SQL query, I stand by my contention that Oracle doesn't get the magic that users see in Excel when they retrieve data from Essbase.

By the way, Mark and I get along quite well despite our debates over technology.

In any case, here is a link to the video:

http://www.livestream.com/odtug/video?clipId=pla_c4584e09-e206-46ef-ae33-ae47d3f9729d&utm_source=lslibrary&utm_medium=ui-thumb

Kscope11 Hyperion Midnight Madness

I can't believe it has already been a couple of weeks since Kscope11; time just flies when you are having fun.  In my case, I managed to get a couple of days of summer skiing in at Mammoth Mountain before heading home to the heat of Alabama.  Since that time, I have been heads down catching up (and working hard on Dodeca 6).  I need to make a few posts to summarize some of the fun things that happened at Kscope11 and, within a few days, to post my slides/sample code from my Java API session.

First, I thought I would talk about one of the unique networking events we have at Kscope, the annual Midnight Madness networking event.  For the past couple of years, this event has featured a game show format and this year, it was Family Feud.   Fellow Oracle ACE Director Glenn Schwartzberg acted as the master of ceremonies and played brilliantly the Richard Dawson game show host character.  The funniest thing happened on one of the questions where Glenn totally lost it and literally couldn't get the words out because he was laughing so hard..

Another very funny thing happened during Family Feud.   The survey question was "Name an Oracle ACE or Oracle ACE Director in the EPM/BI Space".  Yes, I know, boring, right?  Guess who was the top answer?  Book author/Kscope Conference Chairman Edward Roske?  Nope.  He finished second to yours truly..  By the way, the screenshot below was sent to me by Edward..

So, in summary, my career is now officially a trivia answer!

ODTUG Hyperion SIG Nominations Close Today

If you are interested in building the Hyperion user community, the ODTUG Hyperion Special Interest Group is a great place to start.  The Hyperion SIG Board did some great work over the past year to create the great KScope conference last week in Long Beach and will, I am sure, work hard to create an even better conference next June in San Antonio, TX.  Nominations are open through tomorrow (sorry for the late notice).  This is the info posted on Network 54 about a month ago:

The ODTUG Hyperion SIG is currently seeking nominations for its board. There are three (3) open seats. 1 of these seats can be filled by a vendor/partner.

The board’s responsibilities are:

• Enable communication with Oracle Corp on direction and strategy
• Share information and experiences among Oracle Hyperion developers and database administrators
• Facilitate training and education among the Oracle Hyperion developers and database administrators (DBAs)
• Provide representation for the Hyperion SIG at Kaleidoscope and Oracle Open World
• Develop the Hyperion tracks at Kaleidoscope
• Maintain Hyperion SIG’s web page on ODTUG.com with relevant and informative content to the development community

Board member requirements include: current paid member of ODTUG; regular participation in board conference calls; coordinating/contributing to meetings and conferences including ODTUG Kaleidoscope and Oracle Open World.

As a board member, one needs to support and promote the Hyperion SIG goals by taking an enthusiastic role in the activities that help continually provide value to the technical community. Giving a presentation at ODTUG’s annual conferences, assisting with membership and awareness campaigns, mentoring new members and encouraging other developers/DBAs to participate in the Hyperion SIG are just a few ways that board members can display leadership and contribute to the SIG's growth and success.

If you would like to help shape the future direction of the Hyperion SIG by joining the board, please submit the following information to doug_burke@paramount.com:


Name
Company
Title
Address
Email
Phone Number
Head Shot (Photo)
Four to five sentence bio


Please be aware of the following rules/guidelines:

• Candidates must be a current paid member of the Oracle Development Tools Users Group (ODTUG).
• Elections are for individual volunteers, not the companies that employ them. The person elected will be a board member. It is recommended that individuals seek approval to run before submission as a candidate.
• Board will consist of nine members with no more than 50% from employees of Oracle Vendors (50% vendor rule).
• A board member’s term will last three years. At the end of their term, former members may choose to run for re-election after one year.
• On any given year, there will be 3 open positions on the board.
• If positions become open on the board during the year, board members may appoint members at their discretion as long as it does not violate the 50% vendor rule.
• Nominations will be open now until July 8th.
• Voting will be from July 11-25th on the ODTUG website.
• Results will be published July 29th.

Volunteer and get involved!

Dodeca KScope Session - Extending Analytics Beyond Essbase at Wells Fargo with Dodeca

If you are at KScope, make sure you attend our 'vendor session' Tuesday at 9:45 am in Room 101A.  Wells Fargo has a large investment in Essbase and other Oracle technologies with a 14,000+ user community. Attend this session and learn how Wells Fargo turned financial data into integrated business processes using Dodeca.


The presenter, Jeff Barnes, is manager of the Essbase Development Group at Wells Fargo.  Jeff and his team utilize a wide array of Oracle/Hyperion tools including, DRM, Essbase, and Financial Reporting as well as Applied OLAP’s Dodeca to meet the accounting and management reporting needs of the bank.

KScope Super Ambassadors

If you are attending KScope and want an easy way to volunteer, sign up to be a Super Ambassador.  Here is what a Super Ambassador does:

• Commit to being present in the same presentation room for a half day (either morning or afternoon). You can pick the room where the sessions you were already planning on attending will be held. 



Ambassador Shirt

• Assist the speaker, if needed, remind the participants to fill out session evaluations, and complete the session information form for each session.
• Report any problems/concerns to the conference staff.
• Ask the presenter if the slides he/she is using are the same as what is loaded on the Web site. If not, copy them on to the Super Ambassador flash drive. If the presenter has not loaded the slides, copy them on to the flash drive and tell him/her that we will load the slides.

Login to the Attendee Portal to sign up as a Super Ambassador.  As a reward for your hard work, you will receive a special T-shirt denoting your VIP status, will be invited to volunteer parties and receptions, and will have VIP access at the Grand Event on the Queen Mary.

 

If you are not registered for KScope, not only will you not be able to volunteer as a Super Ambassador, but you will also miss out on the most intensive Hyperion/Essbase technical gathering of the year.  You can still sign up at http://www.kscope11.com/.

KScope Session Featuring Dodeca: Calix Networks

Tony Banta, from Calix Networks, will discuss how Calix, an industry leader in providing cutting-edge telecommunications equipment and management software, wanted to expand their leadership in the supply chain by more effectively managing both strategic and day-to-day aspects of manufacturing operations. This week, Tony sent me his slides to review and they look really cool! The slides talk about how the company moved from a spreadsheet-based, labor-intensive system to a new, state-of-the-art performance management and cost modeling system. The new system combines a number of technologies including an Oracle database, Oracle Data Integrator (ODI), Oracle Essbase and Dodeca and compares/contrasts several Dodeca grids and charts with their OBIEE versions.
By the way, Tony is senior vice president of manufacturing operations for Calix with responsibility for all aspects of worldwide manufacturing and supply chain operations and will be a very animated and entertaining speaker. He is also a former test pilot, astronaut, and now a warbird pilot.

In fact, Tony gave me a ride in his P-51 Mustang before Open World last year.  I blogged about it here: http://timtows-hyperion-blog.blogspot.com/2010/09/oracle-open-world-trip-day-3.html. Here is another video of the same flyover from another perspective; this was shot by my son Logan:

The week before my ride, he was out on a photo shoot in the Mustang. The photographer must not be the flying type:

http://vimeo.com/14912614

Finally, if you can't see videos at your place of business, here is a picture of me getting my pre-flight briefing before getting into the Mustang.
 

Early registration for KScope ends soon, so if you haven't registered yet, register today at http://www.kscope11.com/registration.

KScope11 - More new Hyperion sessions added

As a member of the ODTUG Board of Directors and participant in the ODTUG Hyperion SIG, I can tell you many, many exciting things are happening with the upcoming KScope11 conference.   I am planning a series of short blog posts to talk about each of these things.

This week, five new sessions were added to the KScope11 agenda.  The conference now features over 100 Hyperion sessions and will truly be a gathering place for Hyperion experts and insiders.  The new sessions are:

Commenting on Essbase Commentary Options at ConocoPhillips
Presenter: Henry Robin, ConocoPhilips

LROs, Cell Text, Related Content? Essbase provides many options for adding commentary to your reporting and analysis solutions. Join ConocoPhillips as they share how they provided an automated system for capturing and reporting variance commentary. We will discuss our current solution as well as possible future changes based on Oracle's direction for Essbase commentary. Don't miss this chance to learn more about ways to capture critical text information about your Essbase numbers!

(Planning OR Essbase) AND FDM) AND ERPi = Success!
Presenter:  Anthony Scalese, Ranzal & Associates

This session will explore the capabilities of FDM, and now ERPi, to integrate with other target EPM applications such Essbase (BSO & ASO) and Strategic Finance.  Out of the box features such as the ability to execute calc scripts before and after a load as well as leveraging load rules will be showcased.  The session will highlight how the introduction of ERPi further expanded the already world class analysis & reporting capabilities of Essbase by adding drill through to transactional detail.  This session will conclude with an overview of automation capabilities of FDM, discussion of use cases and thorough Q&A. 

Essbase Custom Defined Functions are fun!
Presenter: Toufic Wakim, Oracle Corporation

This session will explore a number of interesting cases of Essbase CDFs used by Oracle customers explained by one of Oracle's most experienced Essbase CDF experts.

Using MaxL to Automate Essbase
Presenter: Natalie Delemar, Ernst & Young

What is this thing called MaxL (and why the funny capitalization)?  All will be revealed through practical code samples and interactive examples that show why MaxL is an essential Essbase tool.  You will see:  the many ways to invoke MaxL, driving MaxL scripts via the OS shell, Essbase database manipulation with error checking, encryption, script nesting and logging.

Mission Critical! Deploying Highly Available Oracle EPM Systems
Presenter: Eric Helmer, Linium

Mission Critical implementations of the Hyperion Enterprise Performance Suite are becoming more commonplace.  As corporations are turning to global integration and follow-the-sun real time analytics, Hyperion applications must accommodate thousands of users 24x7.  Join Oracle ACE Director Eric Helmer as he dissects larger Hyperion implementations and strategies to achieving a global, highly available enterprise.  Learn how many Fortune 500 companies achieve world class availability through clustering and failover techniques, disaster recovery procedures, load balancing, and virtual machines.

If you haven't registered for KScope11 yet, you can register at http://www.kscope11.com/.

Do You Have A Killer EPM Application?

My friend Ron Moore from Marketing Technologies Group in New York is currently doing an on-line survey to find out who has the best EPM applications deployed.  He, in turn, plans to use this information during a panel discussion at the ODTUG KScope11 conference in Long Beach.

If you think you have a 'Killer App', please take the survey at https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/odtug.

KScope Hotels

Yesterday, I found out during the ODTUG Board Meeting that the hotels for KScope11 are starting to fill up.   I will staying at the Renaissance Long Beach Hotel as most of the Hyperion focused events, including Hyperion Midnight Madness, will be there.  Many of the other Hyperion attendees will be there as well, so I am sure there will be many, many networking opportunities which can be just as valuable as the conference sessions themselves.  Does anyone remember the spirited games of Jenga at the hotel in Monterrey?  Jenga Joe, are you staying at the Renaissance?