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John Santaferraro

The value of small industry events

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Any run-of-the-mill industry event calls itself a failure when just 24 attendees show up. An audience of that size tempts any keynote speaker to flee. The so-called “welcome” reception seems more like a wake for an unpopular deceased. Throughout, a deadly calm fills every room.

Some events of that size, though, sparkle with life. Potential for real, meaningful contact is rich. Interesting conversations last longer. You get to know people better.

The Pacific Northwest BI Summit, held every July in Grants Pass, Oregon, is my prime example. It is the Bohemian Grove of the business intelligence industry. I attended as press for the third time this summer.… Read the rest “The value of small industry events”

Getting over the ‘P’ word to expand BI horizons

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Many in the business intelligence industry talk about organizational problems getting in BI’s way, but few talk about them very much.

Scratch the surface of most presentations and conversations — such as last week at the TDWI conference in San Diego — and you find people problems bobbing right up alongside data problems: indifferent executives who undermine BI, short-sighted silo keepers, and IT people who enrage business users with paternalism, to name a few top quirks. If only data were all we had to transform!

One business manger at last week’s TDWI conference in San Diego told me that one of his most daunting tasks during a recent data warehouse implementation was persuading silo managers to release their death grip.… Read the rest “Getting over the ‘P’ word to expand BI horizons”