On April 12 and 13th, I attended the Ingram Micro Cloud Summit 2016 with the boss, Dan Johnson, down in Scottsdale, AZ. It was a good show but we quickly learned we were not really in the target demographic. This was aimed more at businesses who need a nudge into the cloud (or a shove in some cases). We are already there.
Unfortunately, that meant that we were attending some breakout sessions that we could have taught.
That being said, there was still value. We had some great conversations with some other business leaders in our industry about various aspects of — and our experiences in — the cloud. That is always fun. I really enjoy helping people get to “now I get it” mode.
We also had some great interactions with our Ingram and AWS team members. And, of course, some good chats with potential new vendors.
And finally, we did each manage to find some breakout sessions in which we did learn some things and get value.
The keynote speakers were generally interesting. Which is a good thing since they filled 4 hours of each morning with them! Some good tips and a lot of industry insight and trends
The two celebrity guests were definitely my high points of the keynotes: Buzz Aldrin and Thomas Dolby.
They were awesome! Great stories, history and both were very engaging. Among other things, Aldrin told us about his “first selfie in space” and Dolby actually busted out “She Blinded Me with Science” while on stage.
Will I volunteer to go back next year? Not sure yet. The show is definitely aimed more at sales folks looking to make the leap, but still… there was value. Really, there’s always value attending an event with a thousand other folks in your industry. That just sparks great conversations.
