COLLABORATE 13 — OAUG Forum Wrap-Up Report

Oracle Users Embrace the Bear, Brave the Brrrrrr, Bolster Knowledge and Skills

Under the steadfast watch of the giant blue bear at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver, more than 5,500 COLLABORATE 13 attendees braved 60-degree temperature changes, bracing winds and a couple inches of snow during another very successful, annual conference.

COLLABORATE 13 featured more than 1,300 sessions in 23 focused educational tracks for Oracle Applications and Technology professionals. The COLLABORATE 13 — OAUG Forum presented more than 600 educational sessions covering topics relevant to Oracle Applications users.

COLLABORATE 13 was hosted by conference partners IOUG, the OAUG and Quest.

COLLABORATE 13 Session Materials

Registered attendees may download all conference presentations via My Show Planner through Friday, May 10. Login credentials and download instructions were included in emails sent to conference registrants. OAUG speaker presentations will be available to all OAUG members via the OAUG Conference Paper Database toward the end of May.

Networking

COLLABORATE 13 presented numerous events and venues to help attendees engage with peers to gain insight into what other users are doing and to establish contacts for ongoing communication and information exchange.

The OAUG kicked off the week with an exclusive, after-hours networking evening at the Denver Art Museum. Amid the awe-inspiring exhibitions of northwest coast Indian art, American Indian art, historic western American art and performances by live native-American dancers, guests were able to forge new connections and see old friends.

During COLLABORATE 13, the OAUG held its first-ever Ambassador Appreciation Networking Breakfast, where Ambassadors were recognized for their efforts and heard about the newest resources available to them through their OAUG membership. OAUG Board members also shared details of upcoming initiatives, and Ambassadors provided feedback and suggestions for the benefit of the program and the OAUG community.

Ambassadors act as the OAUG’s main point of contact within members organizations and ensure that their colleagues are kept up to date on all of the free, online education and other resources made available exclusively to them as OAUG members. The OAUG appreciates each Ambassador’s effort to educate their colleagues and maximize the value of their OAUG membership. Refer to the OAUG website for more information about the OAUG Ambassador Program or contact ambassador@oaug.com.

COLLABORATE 13 attendees also sampled great street fare, browsed unique merchandise and enjoyed local entertainment at the closing Urban Revival Party on Wednesday evening.

Additional events throughout the week brought people together over drinks, food, fun and entertainment.

Continue nourishing your network by engaging with other OAUG members through social networking sites, including:

More than 9,000 members in the OAUG’s active LinkedIn Group
Collaborate - OAUG Forum on Facebook
@COLLAB_OAUG or @OAUG1 on Twitter

Back by Popular Demand

The New Attendee Orientation on Sunday afternoon welcomed first-time COLLABORATE attendees as well as returning veterans. With a standing-room-only crowd, OAUG volunteers and staff highlighted key activities and offered tips for making the most of the COLLABORATE conference experience.
The Women in Technology program luncheon and panel discussion drew more than 500 participants. Presenters, panelists and attendees had the opportunity to hear from accomplished women in various fields as they shared their personal experiences and strategies for success.

Katherine T. Ridenour, Retired Battalion Chief, Aurora Fire Department, Colo., presented the luncheon keynote address. The panel participants were Carolyn Dolezal, EVP and Chief Executive Technology Industry Practice, SmithBucklin Corporation; Amrita Mehrok, Senior Director, Financial Applications Strategy, Oracle; Kristin Russell, CIO and Secretary of Technology, State of Colorado, Anne Plese, Director, Data Center and Cloud Solutions, Cisco; Maureen Clifford, Chief Executive Officer, Ndevr Pty Ltd.; and Amy Doherty, Vice President, ERP, AARP.
The Oracle Primavera Special Interest Group (OPSIG) returned to COLLABORATE for a third year to host an educational track focused on helping attendees utilize Oracle Primavera PPM products to manage projects throughout their lifecycles.

Katherine T. Ridenour, Retired Battalion Chief, Aurora Fire Department, Colo., speaks to attendees during the Women in Technology luncheon.	Women in Technology panelists: Carolyn Dolezal, SmithBucklin Corporation; Amrita Mehrok, Oracle; Kristin Russell, State of Colorado, Anne Plese, Cisco; Maureen Clifford, Ndevr Pty Ltd.; and Amy Doherty, AARP.
The Women in Technology panel discussion invited questions from the audience.	Maureen Clifford, Ndevr Pty Ltd; Katherine Ridenhour, keynote speaker; Carolyn Dolezal, SmithBucklin Corporation; Amy Doherty, AARP.

Awards and Special Recognition

The OAUG salutes the 2013 Member of the Year and Innovator of the Year for significant contributions to the Oracle Applications community.

The 2013 OAUG Member of the Year is Michael Brown of member company Colibri Limited. In addition to his long service to the OAUG Database Special Interest Group (SIG), Michael has paved the way for multiple, related SIGs to work together and has contributed beyond the call of duty in assisting with OAUG educational programming.

OAUG President Margaret Wright congratulates 2013 OAUG Member of the Year Micheal Brown.

The 2013 OAUG Innovator of the Year is the Closure Systems International (CSI) Division of Reynolds Packaging Group. As part of the Oracle E-Business Suite R12 rollout to its 25+ locations across the globe, the company successfully implemented a bolt-on process that runs as part of the standard Oracle E-Business Suite to effectively address regional localizations for the Chinese tax reporting system. CSI was nominated by Zanett Commercial Solutions. The award was accepted by Cate Lambert and Ram Kottayil from CSI.

The 2013 OAUG Innovator of the Year Award goes to Closure Systems International (CSI) Division of Reynolds Packaging Group. Left to right: OAUG President Margaret Wright; Josh Scheumann, Zanett Commercial Solutions; Ram Kottayil, (CSI) and Cate Lambert, CSI.

Keynoters Inspired and Informed

Monday’s moving opening keynote by Aron Ralston, adventurer and subject of the film “127 Hours”, reminded participants of everyone’s capacity for the extraordinary, proving anyone can survive the most grueling circumstances.
Oracle President Mark Hurd participated in a Q&A style presentation moderated by Constellation Research Principal Analyst R. Ray Wang on Tuesday, April 9. Hurd highlighted Oracle’s interest in engaging user groups to inform and educate customers, to secure customer feedback and, ultimately, to advance customer success and satisfaction.
Sean D. Tucker, daredevil aviator for Team Oracle, shared exhilarating videos along with his philosophy for striving for excellence in all of life’s pursuits.
Phil Francisco, IBM’s Vice President, Product Management and Product Marketing, discussed how organizations can ensure their information infrastructure is ready for the new era of computing and big data.

Keynote presenter Aron Ralston.

Oracle President Mark Hurd addresses the crowd during the keynote on Tuesday morning.


Keynote presenter Sean D. Tucker, Team Oracle, signed autographs during the opening reception in the Exhibitor Showcase.

Phil Francisco, IBM, talks big data and analytics during the Tuesday afternoon keynote.

OAUG Geographic and Special Interest Groups

More than 50 OAUG Geographic (Geos) and Special Interest Groups (SIGs) held meetings throughout the week at COLLABORATE 13.

Congratulations to the following Geos and SIGS that earned the 2013 OAUG Geo/SIG Certificate of Distinction:

Geos

Atlanta OAUG
Central States OAUG*
Florida OAUG*
India OAU*
Latin OAUG*
Michigan OAUG*
Nevada OAUG*
New England OAUG*
North Central OAUG*
Northern California OAUG*
Northern Ohio OAUG*
Ohio Valley OAUG*
Southwest Regional OAUG*

SIGs

AP SIG
Asset SIG*
Configurator SIG*
Cost Management SIG*
Database SIG*
Discrete Manufacturing SIG*
E-Business Applications Technology SIG*
E-Business User Management SIG
Enterprise Asset Management SIG*
General Ledger (GL) SIG*
Hyperion SIG*
Oracle Business Intelligence SIG*
Process Manufacturing SIG*
Projects SIG
Public Sector SIG*
Upgrade SIG*

* Multi-year recipient

Your ongoing commitment to excellence in serving the Oracle users community is appreciated.

Exhibitor Showcase

The Exhibitor Showcase welcomed 270 companies from the vendor community who shared inspiration, ideas and expertise to help attendees discover products and services that can help them enhance the return on their organization’s Oracle investments.

The OAUG congratulates the following winners of the OAUG Best of Show Awards!

Best Exhibitor Marketing - ePrentise
Best Visionary:
- 200 sq ft or less - excel4apps
- 400 sq ft or more -Velocity
Best of Show - Velocity
Best Traffic Stopper:
- 200 sq ft or less- HP
- 400 sq ft or more IBM
User Choice Award - Klik IT Ltd.

Thank you for your creative and informative exhibits!

RadiOAUG

The OAUG Membership Booth provided a unique opportunity to be heard. RadiOAUG, hosted by Business RadioX, featured live interviews with presenters, exhibitors, members and Oracle employees during COLLABORATE 13. Sample the wisdom, opinions and insights from more than 30 recorded interviews.

Jon Brower (right) from Smart Dog Services goes on air with Business RadioX hosts Lee Kantor (left) and Stone Payton (center).

Attendees also engaged in spirited competition during the Name That Tune contests.

The OAUG Customer Support Council

One of the OAUG’s strongest advocacy groups, the OAUG Customer Support Council represents members’ interests to Oracle Support and works cooperatively with Oracle to develop and implement tools, resources and policies. During COLLABORATE 13, the council staffed a booth in the Exhibitor Showcase to explore visitors’ support-related suggestions and concerns and to gauge high-priority areas for future exploration. Council co-chairs John Schmitz and Andy Farber and Oracle Support employees also discussed the group’s cooperative relationship in two RadiOAUG interviews.

Oracle Participation

Oracle took advantage of the unique opportunity at COLLABORATE 13 to strengthen its relationships and investments in the users community by engaging face-to-face with volunteer leaders from the users community. From formal meetings to impromptu discussions, Oracle executives, product managers and experts met with OAUG volunteer leaders.

More than 20 Oracle experts met one on one with conference attendees to discuss topics related to the Oracle E-Business Suite, Oracle Hyperion and Oracle Support Services.
Oracle executives presented a number of product strategy roadmap sessions and conducted exclusive usability feedback meetings to provide insights into Oracle’s user-centered design process.
Oracle employees presented more than 70 educational sessions as part of the OAUG Forum.
Oracle’s DEMOgrounds in the Exhibitor Showcase featured Oracle Applications, Database, Fusion Middleware, Server and Storage Systems, Support Services Solutions and much more.


Customers confer with Oracle employees during the Meet the Experts sessions.

Oracle SVP Applications Development Cliff Godwin discusses E-Business Suite support timelines during his strategy and roadmap session.

Oracle’s Cliff Godwin and Nadia Bendjedou discuss E-Business Suite strategy with a customer during a Meet the Experts session.

Save the Date! COLLABORATE 14

Mark your calendars for COLLABORATE 14: Technology and Applications Forum for the Oracle Community at the Venetian and the Sands Expo Convention Center in Las Vegas, April 7-11 (Monday-Friday), 2014.