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Past Symposium/ITxpo
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Record Crowd Attends Symposium “Locknote” Friday, 15 November 2002 In a week of attendance records for Gartner Symposium/ITxpo 2002 in Sydney, Australia, the head of Asia/Pacific Research, Craig Baty, concluded the four-day event with a final address that summarized the key themes. More than 1100 delegates rolled up for the final address, blitzing the previous “Locknote” crowd by more than 300 and forcing organizers to bring in additional seating as a large crowd gathered at the back of the room in the opening minutes of Mr. Baty’s speech. He focused on the key themes of the four-day Symposium, stressing the importance of mining for the business value of IT investments, as well as looking forward to new trends in systems architecture and the real-time enterprise. Success will be founded on five basic concepts, Mr. Baty told his audience:
“We will see many devices for specific needs rather than a single piece of equipment that will signify the achievement of convergence. But as we build towards this goal, some of the projects will be a success, and some of the experiments will fail. We must be prepared for that and move on." Mr. Baty warned that the search for a technology nirvana, in which “general solutions” can meet the needs of an organization, will be a “real challenge.” Delegate feedback to Mr. Baty’s speech and the general tone of Gartner’s presentation was positive. An executive from Hewlett-Packard said the analysts had been “fair and balanced” and had not fallen into a trap of saying “everything will be good – because it won’t be. “I think many people came to Symposium this year not really sure what was going to be said. Thankfully, the analysts have shown they have had a grounded perspective. Everybody is having a tough time at the moment. It doesn’t really matter whether you are a buyer or seller of technology. It’s a tough industry for everyone.” Symposium chair Bob Hayward said he was relieved and pleased the event had met the needs of the record number of delegates. “There is no doubt in my mind that we had the best quality of speakers ever at an Australian symposium,” he said. “When we began to plan the event six months ago, our intention was to pick the very best presenters and to keep the content real. “The mood of the user community has changed significantly in the last couple of years,” Mr. Hayward continued. “They have less expectation about the future because their needs are very much grounded in the challenges of today. “With Andy Kyte and Daryl Plummer playing such key roles in setting the scene for the Real-Time Enterprise during the opening keynote address, we were able to provide a standard of presentation and content that we have not achieved before.” Messrs. Kyte and Plummer were not the only analysts to draw big crowds. The so-called Powerhouse Vendor presentations by Betsy Burton were a talking point of the event. She teamed up with local analyst Kristian Steenstrup to discuss the trials and tribulations of the software vendors, and then worked with top Asia/Pacific’s hardware specialist, Matthew Boon, to pick over the likes of Dell, Cisco and IBM. “I don’t really want to single anyone out,” Mr. Hayward said. “Someone else can do that. I think the event showed great team work among all facets of Gartner – the analysts from around the globe, the fantastic Events people and the technology support group who kept everything going for us.” Delegates booked more than 300 personal consultations with analysts before the event and at least another 1000 during Symposium. “The demand of delegates to see analysts is the real litmus test for a Symposium,” Mr. Hayward continued. “Some of the guys – especially those from Britain and America – hardly had a minute to spare.” The decision to move Symposium from the center of Brisbane to the heart of the tourist district in Sydney’s Darling Harbour precinct played a significant role in attracting a larger crowd. It was special finale for the head of Events for Asia/Pacific, Gabbi Dalsasso, who has decided this would be her last Symposium after almost ten years with the company. “It’s a great way to go out,” she said. “But most importantly, this was the best show we have ever put on for our clients and delegates. That’s the bit that really counts.” Mark Hollands Gartner Staff |
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