Usually at Lotusphere, after the OGS I tend to get a little stressed. Happy, but stressed. There's usually a gazillion new products I will have to learn, new features to memorize, and an entire rescheduling of my sessions to accomodate all the new things I want to learn based on the OGS.

That didn't happen this year. And in a really, really good way. Over the course of the week, the phrase, "that was a breath of fresh air" was heard, many times, by many people, including myself.

This year at the OGS there wasn't a whole lot of new products, but mainly rebranding and bettering of existing products. The focus was committment, bettering, branding, partnering, and new ways to use existing products more smartly. I walked out of there feeling great about the positive direction and confidence of Lotus and its new leadership.

My head wasn't spinning this time, but rather I was able to absorb every single thing that was said.

I'd much rather have an OGS that confidently tells me more about existing products than have a software company rush something that isn't ready just to be able to make an announcement at a conference. The conference shouldn't dictate a software schedule. When it's ready, it's ready. You rush, you get bad products. (I think the Apple iPhone announcement has forever ruined opening general sessions at conferences, just like M. Night Shymalan's  The Sixth Sense has forever ruined plot twists. They were too good, and now everyone tries too hard to make the magic happen twice.)

I was fortunate enough to be part of the NerdGirl: Making Geek Chic panel. At a few points, it was confession time, so I preceded my statements with, "This is probably going to ruin all professional credibility, but..." before going on. I don't know why I decided to open up like that, but it just seemed like the time and the place for it. However, I was rewarded with a room full of head-nods, and I knew I had made the right choice. Afterwards, over the course of the week, I had many women come up to me and say, "I feel the exact same way! I thought I was the only one!"

So that was another breath of fresh air, as was the NerdGirl BOF, in which we had a great discussion on mentoring, as well as one lady who was smart enough to remind us of Rule #6 before she even knew it existed. (Fresh air - thank you!)

As a huge cloud lifted for many of us, this Lotusphere also saw the inauguration of President Obama, and many of us will have memories of crowds of people watching in the halls in the Dolphin or Swan, silently listening with hope.

I had also planned to see Eric Mack and David Allen's session, IBM Lotus Notes and Me:  Maximizing Personal Productivity with Lotus Notes. In fact, you wouldn't have been able to keep me away from that session. David Allen is the recognized world leader in personal productivity, and as I discovered, is also a very engaging speaker.

At one point he showed us a slide of an empty kitchen. It was a gorgeous kitchen, with stainless steel appliances, granite counters, and custom cabinets. There was nothing on the counters. No toasters, appliances, anything. He said, "doesn't this kitchen INVITE you to make a mess? To get creative?" Then he switched to a messy, cluttered kitchen. Not so easy to create. Instant feelings of panic and overwhelm.

I walked out of that session feeling loads lighter, and inspired. I couldn't wait to get home and clean my Inbox, AND my kitchen!

This Lotusphere was also a little different in that our community, we had Libby Ingrassia hosting Lotus Positions for Lotus Geeks yoga lessons each morning in the Dolphin. (well, not me personally. I'm the sort of person that would watch an exercise video while sitting on the couch eating a pint of Ben and Jerry's. Sorry.) Lotusphere registrants were invited to get their own breath of fresh air 7AM every morning with a 50 minute yoga class. I just loved this, as it seemed to tie in my idea of Zensphere even more.

Finally, as if I wasn't feeling great already, I was treated to a closing session that was so uplifting and inspirational, I could have flown home myself if I knew how to file a flight plan. Ben Zander, conductor of the Boston Philharmonic gave us an amazing lecture on music appreciation, leadership, and the Art of Possibility, in which he told us about Rule #6 - Stop taking ourselves so damn seriously. 

I had needed to hear that. This has not been an easy year, and even over the course of the 'sphere I had found times when I was coming down on myself for various reasons. Mr. Zander's words were, all together now - a breath of fresh air.

I loved this Lotusphere. I think Lotus leadership gained the respect of every person at the conference if they didn't have it already, and I can't wait to see what they will do over the course of the year. I'm hoping they are just as approachable and outspoken online as they were at the conference; if so, I won't have to let go of my feeling of Zen. Because I gotta tell you, it's a nice feeling.

Jess

Technorati: Lotusphere2009

1. Tim Tripcony01/28/2009 11:24:10 AM
Homepage: http://www.timtripcony.com

I especially agree with your point about not rushing products just to make an announcement... I think the fact that they actually postponed releasing 8.5 until several weeks after it was ready in order to sync the announcement with MacWorld (as opposed to writing the last few lines of code on the plane to Orlando) speaks volumes.

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