What a great show it was! While we can’t rehash every amazing detail of the SAP event, we can break down our favorite moments and key highlights that made for a truly epic and vibrant experience.
“Outstanding, engaging, informative, enthusiastic speakers!” BI&A delegate B. Brandel gushing about the keynote & session presenters
Sunday, August 6th: Although the official start of the conference didn’t begin until Monday morning, delegates’ and speakers’ flights already began touching down while Ubers began shuffling everyone off to their hotel. It broke out into a 50/50 split between hotel preference – half staying at the Sheraton Grand while the other half opted for the Hyatt Place.
Meanwhile, as conference attendees got settled, the Eventful Conferences group began setup at Nashville’s Music City Center.
Monday, August 7th: The official start of SAP’s BI+A 2017 Conference! We kicked off the show with Conference Producer, Kyle Tate, offering a warm welcome to all 500+ attendees and Business Objects Users.
Our opening keynote sparkled, as Chris Foster of the NHL mesmerized our audience with all things “Smashville”—or for those Nashville newbies, the Predators Hockey team. His presentation also focused on the incredible transformation SAP has allowed in regards to the NHL’s customer experience.
Standout sessions included Lockheed Martin discussing predictive and descriptive analytics as well as Intel Corporation presenting on the principals of creating a common analytical layer. SAP also held its first ever Feedback Forum centered on Hybrid Analytics, which resulted in standing-room only.
The successful first day was wrapped up with an informal cocktail reception. With the abundance of brilliant conversations being had, the event team ended up extending the official end time an additional 30 minutes to keep the buzz going! This BI+A community certainly enjoys learning, connecting, and collaborating with their peers.
Tuesday, August 8th: The second full day of our annual BI+A conference was warmed up by the Royal Canadian Navy’s Vice-Admiral Ron Lloyd and Commander Tim Gibel. The audience was greatly impressed by their inspirational story and engaging presentation style on why dedicated executive sponsorship is critical to the success for your organization’s analytics initiatives.
“That was fantastic. Very informative, entertaining and inspiring.” Customer T. Miller praising the Royal Canadian Navy’s Opening Keynote
The remainder of the day sped by with informational and educational sessions led by top-named organizations such as Crocs Inc, Johnson Nutrition, and Fiat Chrysler. The connections made between speakers and delegates through these honest and transparent stories are what made this conference a cut above the rest.
The Eventful Conferences group also broke up the day by sprinkling in fun contest updates to our BIA Twitter Contest. Entering into the drawing required either BI+A knowledge or participation in a mini scavenger hunt. Tweets including posting photos of the conference signs, stating how many BI+A shows you’ve attended, naming event mentors, posting your favorite session quotes, and more!
The day was wrapped up with a memorable and awe-inspiring story from Jessica Buchanan, the humanitarian aid worker kidnapped by Somali land pirates for 3 months. Needless to say, our audience was moved beyond belief. As one attendee shares, “It was very inspiring. Here I’m thinking about people I know that are complaining about work, the day-to-day mundane stuff and making such big deals out of nothing. Adjust your attitude and decide to do something positive with what you have!”
A reception closed out the end of day 2, but not without a live country band to give a little taste of true Nashville-style networking. Surrounded by great food and drinks, the crowd responded very positively (which could be proven in the line-dancing that suddenly emerged)!
“Very impressed with the venue, food, drinks and the entertainment! Thanks!” Customer L. Priefert expresses gratitude in the event’s details.
Wednesday, August 9th: At the last day of 2017’s BI+A Conference, there was no lack in useful content being shared and engaging conversations still happening. Business Objects and SAP users were treated to ASUG’s CEO himself, Geoff Scott, as he discussed what it means to be an ASUG member and a part of the SAP ecosystem.
Also announced was next year’s location at our Nation’s “Surf City”, in Huntington Beach, California. Customers and sponsors alike are excited to experience this refreshing locale with the updated date of February 18-21 in 2018.
Make sure to attend this next event for the sake of your company’s BI performance. As customer A. Brunstrom explains, it brings businesses “real world experiences, very interesting recommendations, and useful information”.
All-in-all, this “Beautiful, Usable BI” event catapulted itself into a different level for BI strategies. For those organizations leveraging Business Objects, this platform provides exceptional opportunities to maximize your current investment. For further explanation of what benefits attending a BI+A Conference can bring to your business, watch Craig Powers—the Senior Writer for ASUGNews—recap the highlights of this year’s event.
