Kaleidoscope Wrap-Up

The reset of the Kaleidoscope conference was even better than the first day. By the time I got home yesterday I was thoroughly exhausted but I gained so much from the experience.

Tuesday morning I went to a session led by InterRel where you could ask Essbase experts anything you wanted. I then I attended a class on Smartview which was led by Robert Hunter. The Smartview class was extremely informative. I had no idea the capabilities that Smartview had in regards to tasks lists, web forms, and its ability to work in other Microsoft products besides Excel.

In the afternoon I attended a class on Oracle BI and Mobility taught by Keving McGinley of Accenture. I enjoyed learning about the different mobile applications available for BI and I would like to be part of a project where I could build mobile reports. After that class I attended "Designing Eye-Catching and Effective Dashboards" which was an extremely helpful class. The It was taught by Jordan Meyer of Rittman Mead Consulting. Jordan did a great job of getting the facts across and providing examples of why some dashboards are much more effective than others. This class ended up being one of the award winning classes of the conference!

Tuesday evening our Crown group met up with some friends to go to dinner and the Alamo. It was a fun night! Below is me at the Alamo:

Wednesday morning I went to a class based on Harvard's implementation of financial reporting and then attended an Essbase Experts Panel for Essbase Beginners. Both of these classes were extremely informative and I particularly enjoyed the one about Harvard. The teacher (Alexander Ladd of Mindstream Analytics) emphasized the importance of good planning before taking action.

Wednesday afternoon I attended a class on Essbase Studio which was a great class taught by Glenn Schwartzberg and I was surprised to learn Essbase Studio's capabilities. It is a tool I would really like to learn more about. I also attended "So Many Tools, What Do I use?" and a "A Forward Look at Essbase" on Wednesday afternoon. Both of these were great and I especially enjoyed learning about the differences between Oracle's broad range of tools.

Wednesday evening we went to a rodeo and it was a blast! I even got hit in the head by a rock from an angry bull. The rodeo was at Knibee Ranch. I had trouble getting a picture but here are some photos from Knibee Ranch:

My experience at Kaleidoscope was so awesome! I gained so much from going and am so thankful for this opportunity. Beyond the classroom knowledge I learned so much about clients, networking, and marketing. A special thanks to Lynn, Bud, Darren, and Chip for all the advice and question answering you guys did throughout the week!

Kaleidoscope Conference

Hi Everyone,

I am currently in San Antonio, Texas for the ODTUG Kaleidoscope Conference and I have had quite a week... And it's only Monday!

I flew out yesterday afternoon and was extremely surprised to find that I was bumped to first class on not one, but both of my flights out to San Antonio! I have never even flown first class before, let alone twice in one day. As if that wasn't enough, when I checked into the JW Marriott in San Anotonio (see the beautiful picture below), I found out the hotel was out of single bed rooms so I was bumped to an executive suite. Not just a suite, these rooms (notice room is plural) are HUGE. I guess yesterday was my lucky day... I should have bought a lottery ticket! 

Beyond the fun and lucky stuff that has been happening, the conference has been such a great experience. This morning I went to a hands on session about OBI (Oracle Business Intelligence) which was taught by Charles Elliot of Rittman Mead Consulting. He did a really great job and I would love to continue learning more about OBI. Maybe it's just the headstrong personality in me but I would love to be handed an OBI project and just be told to run with it. I really thought the OBI tool was extremely interactive and user friendly.

Later during lunch I was able to watch some of my colleagues networking at our booth. I was able to learn so much from Chip Rosales, Lynn Brading, Bud Burwinkle, and Darren Hites just by watching them hard at work. One thing that particularly stuck with me was when you are in that type of environment, and you don't really know what to say, the best thing to do is just ask the client questions. Once you've engaged the potential client in conversation, it's easy to go from there. Thanks Chip for the advice!

After lunch I attended "An Intro to ODI in the Hyperion Environment" which was taught by Matthias Helios of Mindstream Analytics. I had the pleasure of sitting by Matthias during my morning class and he did an excellent job presenting and explaining ODI, despite the fact that the content was a little bit (okay a lot bit) over my head.

Throughout the conference I have been networking as much as possible and have been able to meet some really great people. 

Finally I would like to say that I am so fortunate that I am working for a company that would even consider sending a new college grad to this conference. I am so thankful for this opportunity Crown has given me. I'll keep everyone posted as my week goes on.

Goodnight from the Lonestar state!

Officially an Adult

Hello Everyone!

I haven't been on here in forever but I figured now is just as good of time as any to get back into blogging with the start of a new career and a ton of other things going on in my life. So here is a quick rundown of everything that has happened in the last couple of months:

• Returned from Europe (obviously)
• Went to Panama City for spring break
• GOT ENGAGED to the most awesome person ever on May 6!
• Graduated from UC on June 9! Accounting major, international business minor
• Started a new job with Crown Partners on June 18th!

I am loving life so much right now. There is a ton going on but it is all awesome. My new job as a consultant is going great. Next week I get to go to the Kaleidoscope Conference in San Antonio, Texas to learn more about Oracle and I cannot wait.

Thanks for reading! Further adventures, stories, and updates to follow.

Courtney