Friday 1 December 2017

2017 ODC APAC Tour - Fun in the Sun


I'm sat in the sunshine in Perth, as I contemplate the long journey home after the Oracle Development Community APAC Tour. Actually the tour isn't over, China and India are still to come, but I have to say goodbye because UKOUG 2017 starts on Sunday and that is where my priorities lie.

Connor McDonald has been on some of the dates, he leaves today for UKOUG and does Sangam (India) on the way home. 

I did 5 legs where I gave two of my three papers.

              Wellington, NZ : November 20th - https://wlgotnday2017.sched.com/

I loved the audience here, people came to hear my two sessions on Back2Basics and VBCS, not because they are SaaS users specifically but because they were interested in something outside their normal topics. I love this approach and am always suggesting people pick one or two sessions to broaden their oracle horizons.

Richard Olrichs was also talking #PaaS4SaaS, and it was great to see how more interest in the middleware offerings.

               Auckland, NZ : November 22th https://aklotnday2017.sched.com/

This time I managed to attend Richard's session myself. I gave the same 2 sessions as in 
Wellington. 


               Sydney, Australia: November 24th  – https://sydneyotnday2017.sched.com/

This event was held in the Australian Masonic Museum which was amazing. I didn't realise there was so much history to be shared.

Again I was really pleased with the turnout for my sessions, and I also took the opportunity to hear a few more, again learning myself. 


               Melbourne, Australia: November 27th http://www.ausoug.org.au/


Great turnout and a brilliant apps / dev track with lots of interested delegates. Here I switched the Back2Basics for the Government EBS to Cloud story, which is very relevant. Lots and lots of questions from delegates.


There was also a panel session where delegates could ask whatever they liked. Interesting to hear seeds of interest in PaaS offerings from Oracle.

               Perth, Australia: November 29th http://www.ausoug.org.au/

Perhaps it is wrong to have a favourite, but this is mine. The community in Perth all know each other and learn together through their user group. Again lots of questions around SaaS and great discussions with the local Oracle team. SaaS has arrived in Australia.

I am especially proud of my #PaaS4SaaS VBCS presentation, which I did in all 5 cities. Each with 3 live cloud demos. Occasionally wifi was a little challenging, but all worked and in each city I finished with a working mobile app. You certainly don't need to be technical to use VBCS. 

As ever I took the opportunity to have fun on tour. I started by having a weekend with an old friend in Auckland, then in New Zealand, Richard and I made best use of time, with oceanside walks, the cablecar and a bus tour in Wellington, and a visit up the SkyTower in Auckland. 

In Sydney we walked to the Opera House and had dinner in the sun, being joined by my twin Pete Sharman. I took the opportunity to dive in Manly whilst Richard did a quick bus tour before leaving for home. You can read Richard's tour blog here.

I also had the pleasure of catching up with Bambi II and her husband Tony, and Daniel Strassberg for dinner.

Melbourne I met up with Bambi I and her husband Fred for another lovely dinner.

In Perth we finished with a dinner with Connor McDonald, and then I stayed on with Penny Cookson and her husband Spence. Dived with sea lions and caught up on all the work from back home, whilst enjoying their summer, and preparing for UKOUG.

These as well as all the old and new friends at the events, is why I love travelling. Friends around the world, more than just colleagues in the Oracle eco-system.

Thank you to Francisco for the tour organisation, NZOUG, IAOUG and AUSOUG usergroups especially Joseph and Millina and not least Oracle Development Community for making it possible.




T


No comments: