Omniture Summit 2007 : Wrap Up #1
By Craig Danuloff
The Omniture Summit in Salt Lake City has ended, although the snow on the east coast meant it took many of us a lot longer than expected to get home. The conference was great, and I hope to post a series of comments and thoughts about the content and ideas from the event this coming week.
For now however, I just want to thank everyone at Omniture responsible for putting on what was undoubtedly the best organized and executed conference I've ever attended. Both as a sponsor / exhibitor and an attendee they made everything a pleasure. I spoke with many others during the week and I know my sentiments were widely held.
Here's a brief list of things that made the event stand out:
- The facilities at Grand America were excellent. It's a four-star hotel that is elegant without feeling stuffy, spacious without being sprawling, and even the night manager and security team were good guys (don't ask.)
- Nothing was rushed or short-changed. Buses to the external events ran on infinite loops so you didn't have to feel rushed coming or going, when it became clear that folks wanted to keep going late into the night Omniture planned an 'after-party' to follow a huge night out on the town and kept the entertainment and drinks going well into the early hours, there were an abundance of terminals to check email, laptops and support people in the 'hot zone' help rooms, and more than enough friendly staff to assist with registrations or logistical issues anytime throughout the three-four days of the show. There are many more examples but all of them contributed to a relaxed atmosphere and a real demonstration that they cared more about their guests than saving a few bucks on logistics.
- Giveaways and Goodies. From the Sony Bravia TVs to Dell LCDs to Ski Jackets to Wireless Mouse(s) to Chocolate boxes with handwritten notes to very nice leather portfolios to something that came in a tumi box to ipods, to t-shirts, scarfs & caps and who knows what else I don't know about - there was an ongoing state of real surprises and unexpected expressions of appreciation from Omniture to their clients and partners.
- Details and preparation. Beyond all the planning for the sessions, logistics, gifts, etc., their was an amazing attention to detail throughout. My favorite examples were the projected Omniture logo's on the outside of the nightclub where dinner was held one evening (even though they were only visible for the 10 seconds as people moved from the buses into the club) and even moreso the large printed 'Sweet Dreams' signs which awaited us on return from the event at the hotel entrance along with logo-printed Mrs. Fields Cookies and bottles of milk. I'm sure there were many people involved in all of this, but as far as I could tell much of the credit goes to Mr. Stuart Gold (pictured right).
- The 'ready-to-use' booths were great as exhibitors. The quality and uniformity improved the show, and avoiding the horror that is shipping and setting up a trade show booth was a huge bonus. The events and activities scheduled in the exhibit area as well as the friendly ‘insider’ environment produced great results for us in terms of getting a chance to meet and talk with many attendees.
Beyond the execution of the show, it was again a chance to be impressed by the people of Omniture. They’re the most uniformly customer-centric team I’ve ever encountered, and the generosity and openness of the event clearly emanates from them.
All of the above made it a really great week. Thanks again to everyone at Omniture, as well as the many Omniture clients and Partners we met - together they're building a very lively community, and we look forward to our continuing participation and definitely to next Summit ’08.
