Lotusphere Comes to You, but Not Me!
Yesterday I sent an email to register for the "Lotusphere Comes to You" event in London on March 4th. The email I sent came from my codestore.net address but had the following signature:
Jake Howlett
_____________________________
Rockall Design ltd
http://www.rockalldesign.com/
Today I had a phone call from the company organising the event (Triangle, I think she said). At first I thought it was tell me I was in, but it turned out they didn't want me to come. Apparently they'd looked at my website and decided I was a competitor, which meant there was a "conflict of interests".
The conversation was confusing, for both of us. She said "I hope you understand" and I said "Well, no, I don't". I tried to explain I was just a developer but she maintained that I could try and steal their customers while I was there. In the end I gave up and said "Don't worry about it, it was just going to be a free day out".
Maybe I should try again with a different signature? Who do I need to work for in order to be non-competitive though?
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Well, you could try to get in as an unemployed Domino developer, looking for a job. Or let your girlfriend sign in for two!
Excuse my ignorance, but what is "Lotusphere Comes to You"?
The same thing happend to us yesterday. Even though we provide the IT resource for a large bank in london because we are in fact a managed services company (think printers and brown sauce) we are not allowed to attend as we are potential competitors. So the bank cannot benefit from this as all it's IT resources are not in house.
Looking at the page, the event is hosted by an "IBM business partner" and not IBM directly.
In fact - that company is {Link}
If you go there, you'll see why she was iffy with you on the phone, they are a Notes consultancy co.
That said - I bet IBM wouldn't be too happy to know that they were turning people away...
Also - I agree with Richard - there's not a lot of information to suggest what the event is about. Could it be purely for SME's that would pay for assistance from this company?
If so, that would make even more sense regarding why you're not welcome!
This is very poor. I know the event is sponsored by triangle, but it does say Lotusphere comes to you... Not Blatent Sales Pitch, so we dont want competitors there !!..
Surely this is not in the spirit of the event.
I have got a place but the minute they start the sales pitch I am off.
It cant be called Lotusphere comes to you as all people can attend LS
Oh and how can you steal there customers, just because I am going does not mean I am a customer, and with that attitude I am unlikely to be !
Well, it does say "in collaboration with IBM and Lotus". So it suggests that IBM and Lotus know of this turning away of people. Is IBM reading any of this? If they were just in it for the sales, then they shouldn't have stated that they will "provide a summary of the key announcements and product information". Misleading information?
This sucks...
And Ed Brill was complaining about almost the same thing from Microsoft last week !!
Why don't you contact him ?
Bye,
Gaston
Never used Triangle myself, but from what I've heard from colleagues at our sister company they're regarded as one of the best in the industry.
I suspect they may limiting the event to end-users/customers only is because...
a) they are hosting the event at their own cost,
b) there are probably limited spaces and understandably they want to ensure their customers have priority
c) they want to protect their customer base from unethical companies that may attend the event primarily to increase their own customer base
Assuming the above to be correct, then I personally don't see any real problem with Triangle here but believe that IBM should have highlighted the fact that it was a customer event only.
I am the Managing Director of Triangle and would like to put the record straight. This is a customer event that IBM posted on their web site. We wrote the event 'description' based on it being our event, promoted directly by us. It was not attended for a larger/wider audience. I agree that we/IBM should have stated the 'accepted invite' criteria more fully. The response from our Marketing team is a standard one that I expect all would understand, i.e. we are not being paid to run this update, we are running at our cost and it is aimed at giving our customers/prospects an update. To one of the comments, there will be an element of 'sales pitch' here, however, the primary purpose is as outlined in the brief, to update based on Lotusphere announcements. In an effort to appease the situation, I have already suggested that we look to run a 'partner' style event, at a date to be announced, whereby we can deliver the same key messages to the new audience the IBM web site has opened to us. This is a genuine oversight and, knowing that most respondees have their own businesses, I am sure you can understand our position. I would like to apologise for any confusion caused, it was never our intent.
I went to Lotusphere and I was going to take some of my customers along to this event, I am not so sure now. Partly because I might not get in and partly because I don't want Triangle trying to poach them! Triangle are hosting this on behalf of IBM. They should be using IBM's entrance criteria, not their own.
Bob/Kevin. I don't disagree with the business decisions of Triangle. It's just very confusing to think you're registering for a Lotus event only to be called by another company telling you you're unwanted competition. It's been marketed really badly. Hey, it's IBM ;o)
The page on IBM I linked to should explain in more detail *exactly* what it's all about and who it's for.
Thanks for the update Kevin. Looks like your company is just as much the "victim" in all of this as we are.
Triangle must be in bed with IBM if they name there meeting rooms after IBM sites..
Room Capacity for Minstead:
Bar - 80
Austin - 20
Hursley - 5
Poughkeepsie - 40
Raleigh - 10
Rochester - 20
Watson - 10
Unfortunately though the intent is a solid business practice (protecting your turf), the appearance has done quite some damage. I've read about this in other places as well. If the trademark name Lotusphere is lent to the event, the connotation is that anyone who could attend Lotusphere could go to the event. I participated in 5 of these in 2002 and there were no restrictions, even the few that were managed by BPs had to be open. There is bad precedence already set (as reported in the BP forum by me and others), and this turning away issue is unfortunately adding to it. I think working on a BP event is a good idea, who knows maybe some partnering could happen.
Triangle should look at other BPs as collaborators, not competitors. But if this is indeed a closed event, IBM should not be promoting it on their website.
Just my 2c, and IBM is of course free to sell the rights to the "Lotusphere" name as they so choose, but I really don't think IBM should be selling exclusive rights to a valuable property to particular BPs and allowing them to exclude other BPs from the event. Or IBM should at least be offering the same opportunity to all BPs who want to buy the rights to the name. And that's all regardless of whether the content of this Lotusphere Comes To You day does or does not include any BP-created presentations (which is another aspect of this, which I've raised in the thread over at Ed's).
-rich
It' either a Triangle event, or a Lotusphere branded event. Well, that's my 2cents on how I expected it to be.
Can IBM go as they also compete with Triangle, with Global Services etc?
After the explaination I can see where Triangle is coming from, and I think that the communication was wrong.
For me "Lotusphere comes to you" suggests that this is an IBM event, that tries to bring some of Lotusphere to the rest of us.
If Triangle is paying for this, then that puts a different spin on it. However I see Lotus as a community, so I dont see why other BP's can attend...
To me, Lotussphere comes to you means a mini Lotussphere, fully sponsored by IBM, that anyone can attend.
I'm not blaming Triangle for their response - I worked for them a while ago and they were a really top bunch of people. I blame IBM for the confusing message they are putting across. If Triangle are paying for it then it is basically their event but I expect that a lot of people turning up won't be expecting a sales pitch and won't realise it's not a "Proper" Lotussphere.
hmm - Im disappointed now - was looking forward to a "Lotussphere comes to you" - now I know its a "come to a triangle sales pitch" - I know not to waste my day.
I am stil gonna take a look, just I wount be receptive if there is any sales stuff..
Dont get me wrong I have dealt with Triangle before and would do so again.. I am just not looking for anything at the mo
I might be wrong, but I am not aware of any Triangle people being in Orlando this year !, smart move Triange, dumb move IBM
don't get bothered by these "type" of events, if they are that concerned regarding you poaching their business you have to ask yourself what is the value of technical know how they could offer you as a developer anyway?
let's not forget how IBM management brought DOS to the PC.. :-)
Hi. I think Triangle have caused themselves some PR headaches! See, marketing don't really know technology, else they'd have heard of you Jake and given you a VIP ticket!!! :-) I went to LS this year and tried to follow in blogging footsteps on our site and are planning to run some sessions. We'd have been/are happy to have you along, but i reckon a good play sesh with Beta 3 might be as useful at the mo'.
Oh, and I like the improvements by the way.
Is is Lotusphere or is it not? Using the name Lotusphere is a statement that this is a Lotus event.
Hi Jake,
Sorry you could not make it. The presentations at InTechnology was very good and Darren, Mike and John did a very good job. Sametime 7.5 rocks and so does Hanover.
Very nice.
If you want I could try and twist Darren Adams arm to send you the PDF's of the presentation and the short Hanover movie. Triangle did say they would send a CD out so I could send you a copy if you want?
Regards,