Sunday, 9 November 2014

Another Conference But Really Different


If you follow me on twitter (debralilley) you won't have failed to notice I was at a conference last week.

 I have attended over 100 conferences but they have either been IT Usergroup or Vendor conferences, last week I attended my first non IT conference.


Neil young Oracle Sales 
In my new role at Certus Solutions I was joining the team for their stand at the Chartered Institute for Professional Development CIPD event in Manchester. CIPD is all about Human resources, so an obvious place to talk about HCM Cloud. Purchasing of IT has defiantly moved to the Line of Business.

 As well as Certus people we had some Oracle sales people to support us.

 I didn't have a chance to attend sessions which is a pity as there were some great tweets being sent about them #CIPD2014

It was a really busy conference and footfall in the exhibition was quiet on day 1 except at the breaks when it was packed. We tried to encourage people to spend their limited exhibition time with us, by arranging demos. We also offered drinks, but many didn't drink so it proves they did actually want to hear what was being said.



The small groups of people who sat down to see HCM Cloud were blown away by how easy it is to use, the Simplified UI.

 It appears one really big want is to be able to take the too formal interview for an appraisal away and yet record what is being discussed in real time on a tablet. This is not just about the technology being mobile it is about disrupting the way we do things; for the better.

Louise Wills - Oracle Sales





Talent review - powerful IT and yet relaxed over coffee on iPad - the way you work not just what you click #FusionApps #CIPD14 @usableapps





There were lots of questions and everyone was able to answer them - as an employee, an HR manager, HCM implementation consultant, technical questions - which I got.

 CIPD made a Video show casing end of event and Certus were central in their show shots. I had been interviewed for a montage video which we haven't seen yet, but my colleague Maria captured it on her iPhone. I have to say I hate it but like what I had to say.

 On the second day there were a number of students attending and one came to see HCM Cloud as she was being asked about Oracle at interviews.






Pulse of the market: Student came to @CertusCloud stand 465 #CIPD14 - said employers are asking what they know about #oracle #FusionApps


Why should people still attend conferences today when it is so easy to get answers online? well if you don't know the question the only way to explore a topic is to talk, face to face. The conference is changing but it isn't dead.






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