Category Lotusphere
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Back in August 2001, right before Lotusphere 2002 I suggested to IBM/Lotus (via the Business Partner Forum) that they create a new track for Lotusphere - and that track became the Best Practices track. My suggestion is reproduced below:

Subject: A suggestion to Lotus for Lotusphere 2002... [Suggestion;For Lotus]
I had originally begun discussing this idea with Foy Shiver, who has helped coordinate and manage the technical tracks for Lotus Devcon, Lotusphere, IBM Solutions Now, etc. Foy liked it, and had begun to run with it; however Foy has fallen victim to the latest round of IBM/Lotus PM cuts, so I wanted to present the idea to both the BP community and to Lotus to make sure that the idea doesn't die with Foy's departure.

Background
I had the pleasure and honor to speak at the last Lotus Devcon. I copresented with Andre Guirard, and we talked about development best practices. Many of you may remember us asking for input for that session; well we had so much material that it actually became difficult to put a session together. If you put only enough material to fill the time allotted, people complain that you didn't cover the topic in-depth enough; put too much material and people complain that you went too fast. We opted to go with too much material, figuring that people could get the information by reviewing the presentation and other materials we provided. The session was well received; we got exceptionally favorable comments, but the overriding complaint was that we tried to cover too much material in one session. I began to realize a few things about "best practices" sessions in general:

• it is extremely popular
• there are tons of products that can and should be covered with best practices session(s) - some products should even have multiple sessions (such as Domino)
• there simply aren't enough slots in the Technical track at Lotusphere to cover best practices
• the best-received best practices sessions are conducted by developers/admins who are out in the field and have experienced/used these practices firsthand - they have "lived it"
• Lotus seems to be more open to allowing BPs to present at its conventions, based on sessions copresented with BPs and Loti at last year's Lotusphere and this year's Lotus Devcon

So, I came up with the following idea....

Suggestion
I think it is time for Lotus to create a "Best Practices" (sub) track in addition to the Technical track. Traditionally the majority of the sessions given in the technical track are about diving into products and/or features in products so that we can learn how they work and how to use them. These "theory" tracks are great - it is an awesome thing to actually see a presentation by the developers who wrote what is being presented. However the Best Practices sessions always get short-shrift at Lotusphere, for what I believe are a couple of reasons: 1) there just isn't enough time to give all the Best Practices sessions and 2) the Loti/Irii presenting are too busy writing the products themselves to spend time developing, testing, and presenting on Best Practices; at least when they present on the stuff they wrote it is easier for them. Therefore I recommend that Lotus create a Best Practices track for Lotusphere. This track would be simply a series of Best Practices sessions based on products or parts thereof. "There aren't enough Loti/Irii to present an entire new track!" you say - well, that's where I believe the BPs come in...

I think that the few of us who have had the opportunity to copresent with Lotus have proven that it can be done well and is almost guaranteed that it will be well received by the audience. Therefore I think Lotus should ask the BPs for abstract submissions as always, including for this track. Those session abstracts that are well thought-out and cover the material well should be chosen, and then Lotus can pair a PM/Marketing/Developer with the presenter if desired. Or Lotus could allow one PM to monitor the content of the sessions as they are being developed to ensure that it is accurate, appropriate, etc. In any case I think that Lotus could effectively retain control of these sessions without spreading itself too thin, and the BPs who submit the sessions would be more than willing to completely develop the content themselves, thereby freeing up even more of Lotus' time and resources. I believe that the following products/feature would make great Best Practices sessions; I am sure that Lotus and this community could come up with even more:

• Domino R5
  • Architecture and Development Planning
  • Administration
  • LotusScript
  • Java
  • Web (HTML, DHTML, etc.)
  • XML/DXL
  • Integration with WebSphere
  • Global Designer
• QuickPlace
• Sametime
• Domino.Doc
• Mobile/Pervasive Development ("Everyplace")
• Lotus Workflow
• Data Access/Integration
  • LEI
  • DECS/Connectors
  • Extended Search

And this is just the Lotus stuff. There are a few in the WebSphere space that would also make great Best Practices sessions.

Conclusion
The Lotus product family is large and complex enough to warrant an entire track of Best Practices sessions. The developers out there attempting to build solutions using the Lotus tools are begging for information - real-world, tested, tried-and-true information - that helps them deliver superior products to their customers. A track like this could be a great "head start" on providing this information. And Lotus has a ready, willing, and able community of loyal developers and administrators who, I believe, would be more than willing to step up to the plate and help Lotus achieve this goal.

Let the dialogue begin. Lotus, are you interested?

The response to this post in the Business Partner Forum was very positive, and needless to say Lotus was interested. I offered to help with the track, and I was very fortunate that they took me up on it. We began modestly - at Lotusphere 2002 we put on 7 sessions as a "trial balloon", and the response was fantastic. Each year we have expanded this track little by little, until this previous Lotusphere (2005) where we had 19 sessions and one of the most popular tracks at Lotusphere. During all that time the Lotusphere staff has allowed me to continue to contribute to that track, to help grow and nurture it to what it has become today. All these years I have been an unofficial "BP Track Consultant" or "Assistant BP Track Manager", but could never really be officially involved because I was not an IBMer.

Well, that's changed. I am an IBMer now, so I am very, very proud to announce that for Lotusphere 2006 I am the OFFICIAL Best Practices Track Manager! Woohoo!

Additionally, I have been asked to also serve as the Jumpstart Track Manager, since many of the Jumpstart session speakers are also BP Track speakers, and the content is similar.

Kristin Keene (Goddess-of-all-that-is-content for Lotusphere) and I had a fantastic, energetic discussion yesterday to discuss what we were going to do this year for Lotusphere 2006. Obviously I can't talk about these ideas yet, but as things unfold I am sure you'll hear about them here, Ed's blog, and other places as well. Let me just say this: the Lotusphere staff is definitely not resting on their laurels, and the ideas we are discussing for the show are amazing.

I can also assure you that the focus on delivering more value and technical content at Lotusphere is stronger than ever - count on it.

Rock
**A true friend is there when you need them. Which is why I prefer enemies, because they pretty much leave you the hell alone. - Scott Roeben