Guest Contributor: Janet Sun, SHARE Treasurer
Welcome to SHARE in Denver! There are so many things to do at SHARE, I thought I would provide a few tips to help you get the most out of your week here. There is a lot more to SHARE than just the great sessions and keynote presentations you will attend. Optimize your SHARE experience by meeting people and getting involved.
SHARE is an independent, volunteer-run association that provides not just the vendor perspective, but more importantly the view of IT professionals who are actually users. You not only hear about what works, but also what doesn’t work so you can avoid pitfalls. There is also the opportunity for professional networking, and a forum for influencing the IT industry.
Your week at SHARE needs to be an interactive experience, which will help you address your organization’s technological and business needs. SHARE is not intended to be a monologue, but rather a dialogue. Don’t just sit in sessions with the hope of picking up some useful information; talk to the speakers for those sessions, and ask questions. Talk with other attendees. Ask about whatever problems, concerns and issues are important to you and your organization. Don’t let your learning stop when SHARE ends. Exchange contact information with other attendees and continue to network with others after SHARE is over. You can get many new ideas and solutions for problems at SHARE that will pay for your trip here!
Come to the evening receptions and the Technology Exchange Expo receptions to meet others and discuss topics of interest. If you don’t know anyone, introduce yourself! When you attend sessions or talk to others in areas of interest, find a group with interests similar to yours that you can go out to dinner with. Many projects hold dinners during the week that anyone can attend.
Through networking as a result of attending sessions, attending receptions and talking to people in the hallways, you will have the chance to meet developers and architects of the software products your company uses, as well as other users of those technologies who may have valuable information that you can use to save money or solve technical problems.
Additionally, don’t forget to talk to any of the number of people you see who are wearing ribbons on their badges this week. These people are volunteers – IT professionals who spend some of their time to help bring you the great speakers and programs you will experience this week. Ask one of them how you can get involved this week and year-round. It doesn’t take a lot of time and can be as simple as helping a session chairperson pick up session evaluation
cards. If you have any questions about SHARE, stop any ribbon wearer and ask. We’re looking forward to meeting you and helping you to get the most out of your SHARE experience. I hope to talk with you soon!
Regards,
Janet Sun