Diversity in Industry Events

A while ago I listed how I prioritize sessions when I go to an industry event. The more diverse the agenda, to me the better the conference.

But I have also been consciously diversifying the events I go to each year. Helps me cover wider ground to write about on the New Florence blog.

Last year I was at FASTforward (Analytics), HIMSS (healthcare), Sapphire (SAP),Voicecon (Unified Communications), WES (Blackberry and mobile apps), CFO Technology Summit, Dreamforce (salesforce.com), Office 2.0, HR Tech and Software 2008.

This year, I have been to Cognizant Community and will be going to Lawson's CUE. 

One area I do not like diversity - location city of the events. I know I will get hate mail for this, but I wish every event was in Orlando. A 90 minute drive each way and I can catch highlights, visit vendor booths and be back in a little more than a day.  5 of the 2008 events above were in Orlando and made the decision to attend so much easier.

I think a number of folks are burned out on the exhausting Orange County Convention Center experience with its 2 million square feet of exhibition space or that of the hotels tied to the theme parks.

I wish more event managers would diversify to the newer J.W. Marriott Grande Lakes, Rosen Shingle Creek, Gaylord Palms, Omni ChampionsGate properties. Big enough to handle most events, close enough to all of Orlando's distractions - yet cozy enough to not need buses for the attendees.