Kaleidoscope is NOT the new Solutions (and guess what, that's a good thing)
I’ve heard over the last couple of years that this conference or that conference was going to be the “New Solutions”. It got me thinking back to when I went to the old Hyperion Solutions conference and what was so special about it. I remember having a lot of fun when I went, seeing old friends and colleagues, etc, but I was trying to remember what I really got out of the conference. Did I learn anything? Honestly, the answer is not really. At the end of the day, Solutions was a Sales and Marketing conference. It served one main purpose – to get me to buy more software. It wasn’t about making me a better developer. Yes, there were a few technical sessions here and there, but they never got too far below the surface. Most of the time, the sessions were “success stories”. This is where someone who just spent a bunch of money implementing a product stands up in front of a room and describes all the obstacles they have overcome. Mind you, many of these individual’s experience with the softw...