Delayed Review of BPC 2009 in DC
Yet again the Best Practices Conference was a success. But what do I mean by success?
- Was it well attended? – Yes, considering the economy
- Were the sessions good? – Yes, exceptional as always
- Was the accommodation and organisation good? – Yes, Mark did a great job again
If you read some of the other (definitely quicker off the mark posts) you will get a feel for the event.
Paul Culmsee – Segways Rock
Laura (@WondaLaura) Rogers – Part 1 – Brilliant Video Interviews
Laura Rogers – Part 2 – Who is that lucky guy
– (and not as rumour has it founder of #SharePint)
Zlatan Dzinic – Loud and enthusiastic South African << need to talk to about World Cup Tickets
and many others
So why was BPC such a great success?
I think what really makes the event so successful is the way that everyone just gets on with each other, there is none of the normal ITPro -v- Dev artificial separation, there is a great mix of people and skills – you could say a great diversity in the attendees and speakers, to quote the BPC site
Top experts put you ahead of the curve
This Conference gathers the leading authorities to define, describe and set methods that will become industry standard – insights you can gain now to avoid pitfalls, cut costs and gain a competitive edge. Speakers include:
- Microsoft MVPs
- Microsoft Product Team Members
- Top industry executives and authors
- Leading trainers, consultants and topic experts
- Industry colleagues
Valuable as the speakers are, a conference they do not make, it is the mix of people that really stand out for me at these conferences, the depth of conversation and debate that take place before during and after the sessions, how people are engaged in delivering real world projects and faced with real world challenges.
I think the reason the Best Practices Conferences are so successful is noted in a book I was told to read by Paul Culmsee, The Practice of Adaptive Leadership by Ronald Heifetz. Where Heifetz talks about how
it is specifically about change; builds on the past rather than repudiating it; achieves organizational adaptation through continuous experimentation; heavily relies on diversity (i.e. talents, skills, experience, and perspectives); ensures that new adaptations significantly displace, re-regulate, or rearrange whatever is defective, obsolete, or irrelevant; and usually requires both time, patience, and persistence
Although the book goes on into greater depth this statement sums up for me why the Best Practices Conferences are successful.
- Diversity of talents, skills, experiences and perspectives
- Willingness to displace or rearrange defectives processes
- Time, patience and persistence
All of the qualities needed to be successful in deploying SharePoint and all active participants in the conference.
And on a lighter note, if there is one best practice I took away from BPC, one that you all can try at home today – Beer!
Yes that’s right Beer is THE best practice and I can safely say that there was a lot of this Best Practice undertaken during the conference.
