by
Brian Madden
Citrix has modified the name of their annual marketing conference. What used to be called “Citrix iForum” is now called “iForum 07, the App Delivery Expo, presented by Citrix.”
According to their website, This premier global event will put you in touch with the thought-leaders and cutting-edge technology behind some of the hottest trends in the market including Web 2.0, desktop virtualization, and Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA).
It continues, by participating in the App Delivery Expo, you get to be part of the first-ever industry-focused iForum event.
It's unclear to me exactly what this means. Does iForum cover Citrix's products and technologies, or is it about the industry-at-large? If you make your living as a Citrix Presentation Server admin, would you go to this event? (Try to find the phrases "server-based computing" or "Presentation Server" on that site.)
What's really strange to me is the way that Citrix seems to be distancing themselves from the expo. Reading through the site, I get the impression Citrix is trying to market this as an independent application delivery event, rather than a Citrix marketing event. Even the way the name is--it’s the "App Delivery Expo," and then in a smaller font off to the side, "presented by Citrix." Almost like the "Family movie night, presented by Ford."
Attendee registration for the 2.5 day event is $1500 ($1400 for early-bird). There are some hands-on workshops that they’ll be presenting, but these 3-hour workshops cost an additional $400 each (on top of your $1500 registration fee). Why should you pay an extra $400 each for these workshops? According to the website, benefits of the hands-on-workshops include:
- In-depth, hands-on technical training on Citrix products
- One-on-one interaction with Citrix product experts
- Practical knowledge to apply right away
- Details on how and why Citrix products work
- Tips from participating peers about getting the most out of your Citrix investment
I assume this means that the $1500 fee for the general conference does not include these benefits, since they're listed here as reasons to shell out an extra $400 or $800.
By the way, I love that the guy on the home page of Citrix’s official conference is using a Mac. Maybe this means we’ll see an Access Gateway client for the Mac some day? Or Option+H support? Or a Mac ICA client that supports the new features of Presentation Server? Or a Mac WANscaler client? ;)
I also love the new dark blue and light blue color scheme--they’re the perfect colors for an app delivery conference where attendees can network with thought leaders and learn in-depth details about how various products work. Bravo!
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