Lotusphere

Lotusphere is an American annual conference hosted by Lotus Software (now one of IBM's five software brands). In 2013, Lotusphere was re-branded as IBM Connect.

Except for the first conference, which took place in December 1993,^[1] Lotusphere is held in late January. It starts with a reception party on Sunday night and continues on through the closing session on Thursday afternoon. The conference is held at the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin hotels. Most years it has used the additional space at Disney's Yacht and Beach Clubs.

In addition to the annual conference in Florida, there was, for a few years, also an annual Lotusphere Europe conference, in Marseilles and Berlin.

"Lotusphere Comes to You" events are held annually by local IBM Business Partners in their states and regions and recap the information presented at the corporate event.

Agenda

The typical agenda starts with an opening general session on Monday, followed by breakout sessions through the rest of the morning and afternoon where different presentations occur simultaneously in different conference rooms, allowing attendees to choose which one they want to go to. Each breakout session is typically an hour long, with pauses in the schedule to allow attendees to mingle and walk to their next choice of breakout session. Tuesday and Wednesday also have six or seven of these breakout sessions throughout the day.

Thursday is the last day of the conference, with a few breakout sessions in the morning, then a large "Ask the Developers" session where attendees are allowed to ask questions directly to a panel of IBM/Lotus employees involved in making the software. The last event of the conference is a closing session.

The opening and closing sessions typically have a form of entertainment and a guest speaker, as well as executives and key employees sharing news and demonstrations of what's planned for the near future.

Breakout Sessions

In 2008, there were 197 different presentations scheduled during the breakout sessions, scheduled across 18 slots, giving attendees an average of eleven choices per session slot. Each breakout session lasts about an hour. Breakouts are split into several categories called "tracks". Common tracks are

1) Futures and Innovations 

Glimpses of technologies and innovations coming out of IBM and Lotus Research Labs.

2) Application Development 

Presentations on custom application development, ranging from paper prototyping to application development techniques specific to Lotus software products.

3) Planning and Managing Your Collaboration Infrastructure 

Information for administrators and decision makers on architecture, features and capabilities, deployment, and system management.

4) Best Practices 

Tips and tricks for developers, administrators, usually technical and tactical.

In addition to these four tracks, there is sometimes a fifth track with a title and content around "Customer References" or "Sponsor Sessions". There are also "Hands-on" and "JumpStart" sessions.

Hands-on 

These are hands-on classes lasting 1¾ hours, taking place in rooms set up in a classroom style with tables and computers. Attendance is limited such that there are one to two attendees per computer.

JumpStart 

JumpStart sessions are offered during the day on Sunday, usually lasting about 1½ hours, giving an in-depth presentation on a topic.

History and Statistics

^[2]

During the 2008 closing session Lotus committed to hosting Lotusphere at the Swan and Dolphin through 2015.

• Spreadsheet of Lotusphere Events

Lotusphere Europe

Lotusphere Comes to You (LCTY), Sofia, Bulgaria is a local continuation of Lotusphere in Orlando. LCTY is held in over 50 countries around the world. Sofia, Bulgaria is one of the cities where local Lotus Software users gather. Since 2007 LCTY in Sofia has been organized by IBS Bulgaria with the kind support of IBM Bulgaria. The event covers news around Lotus Software as well as sessions emphasizing on local business needs and Lotus Domino development.

Lotusphere Comes to You, Sofia, Bulgaria gathers Bulgarian Lotus Software customers, end users, system engineers and developers. LCTY is an interesting and useful event for managers, analysts, IT professors, journalists and many more who want to understand more about collaboration and communication.

References

1. ↑ Lotusphere trivia, Richard Schwartz's blog, May 3, 2005
2. ↑ Lotusphere Lore, C.U.L.T. 2008 Lotusphere Wiki

External links

• Lotus home page
• IBM Connect (formerly Lotusphere) home page for the current year, including agenda and a list of breakout sessions. (Note: Late each year the URL is redirected to the upcoming conference; some details won't be available until they are decided and released by IBM/Lotus.)
• The Lotusphere Blog, an independent blog highlighting the IBM and community efforts that take place around the Lotusphere conference each year.
• The Lotusphere Podcast, an independent podcast (hosted by Stuart McIntyre) acting as a companion to the Lotusphere Blog.
• Video: Lotusphere 2008 in 60 Seconds, a 68-second recap of major announcements made during the Opening General Session at Lotusphere 2008