I will not be doing a Sessions db this year

After twelve years, it is a little hard to say this, but the changes in mobile computing and the changes in Lotusphere Connect make it clear to me that the time has come. It has been a lot of fun, albeit a lot of work, but the past couple of years have also seen a certain amount of "striving for relevancy", and I'd rather leave it as a pleasant memory than drag it into an awkward afterthought.

At this point, almost everybody has access to an on-line version of the sessions during the conference, and the schedule will be released when it is released for people to plan. I am working on other things at this point, and can't afford to spend the time without a more compelling justification.

What has been said:

1020.1. Ben Langhinrichs (12/07/2012 05:09 PM)

Incidentally, I seem to have broken something on this template, so the initial letters are truncated. I'll go see what happened.

1020.2. Daniel Lieber (12/07/2012 05:28 PM)

Thanks for many years of providing this valuable service. Your sessions database has been particularly helpful with the calendar integration.

1020.3. Andy Donaldson (12/07/2012 05:41 PM)

Thank you Ben for providing this over the years. Was a huge help to the community!

1020.4. Mitch Cohen (12/07/2012 06:01 PM)

Ben I planned many Lotusphere with your sessions DB, thanks for many years of putting it together

1020.5. Thomas Duff (12/07/2012 06:03 PM)

Thanks for all the work you've put into that over the years, Ben. I agree it's time to step away from it, as it's something should be part of a conference's offering by the people putting it on. With all the changes that have taken place, this seems to be a good point to make the break.

1020.6. Joyce Davis (12/07/2012 06:34 PM)

Yes, thanks Ben. Your sessions db was helpful to a lot of people for a long time. I appreciate the time and effort you put into it.

1020.7. Karl-Henry Martinsson (12/07/2012 07:36 PM)

Thank you for all your hard work over the years on teh session database. I agree, this is something IBM should supply. Now when they focus on being social, they should supply a "social enabled" database and apps for the major smartphone platsforms.

1020.8. Bill Malchisky (12/07/2012 08:29 PM)

Ben, you saved me a lot of time with your quality database, made available to the community. Time to make a break and re-focus your efforts. Thank you very much.

1020.9. Gregg Eldred (12/07/2012 08:42 PM)

Ben: Thanks for a wonderful and extremely useful database that made the conference much easier to navigate.

1020.10. Craig Wiseman (12/07/2012 10:22 PM)

Thank you for doing this over the years!

While I wish it was more appreciated by IBM, it has helped many people manage their Lotuspheres and make the best of them.

1020.11. Andrew Pollack (12/07/2012 10:55 PM)

Sad to see this going away, as I was sad to see the CULT shirts going away, and I am sad to see ME going away from LOTUSPHERE (fsck "Connect").

You did great work on this for years. It was a great example of a guerrilla marketing effort that far outclassed big corporate half-assed on.

1020.12. Chris Miller (12/08/2012 01:23 AM)

Ben, I have greatly appreciated all the hard work you put into the database and have had the pleasure of you including information from things I built along the way.

I am sorry to see it go. it provided a greater value than just sessions.

1020.13. Mike McGarel (12/08/2012 06:11 AM)

Your database was a huge help the first year I went to Lotusphere and every year since. Thanks for doing what IBM should've and best of luck in all your future efforts.

1020.14. Ray Bilyk (12/10/2012 02:14 AM)

In my opinion, you're leaving on top! Thank you for all of the work you did on these databases. They are still reference for me, and will be for years to come!

1020.15. Vitor Pereira (12/10/2012 09:32 AM)

I finally make it to Lotusphere, except it's not Lotusphere anymore, there's no session db, there's no CULT t-shirt, there's no blogger open...

I never got to use it but appreciate your work over the years. Thanks!

1020.16. Wes Morgan (12/17/2012 10:33 PM)

Ben, thanks for all of your work over the years. Yours was one of the first third-party DBs I ever used, and (as Ray said) you're definitely going out on top...

1020.17. Theo Heselmans (12/17/2012 11:41 PM)

I can only concur with all the others. Loved it, used it, will miss it. Thanks!

1020.18. Keith Brooks (12/24/2012 11:18 AM)

Ben, It's just not the same without your db! I used it extensively. Now I have to put in much more effort to figure out my week. A sad day as I was just wondering about the db since i have been on vacation last few weeks and missed this post. Thank you again!

1020.19. Amy Widmer (01/03/2013 12:51 PM)

While I totally appreciate your reasons for stopping, but I was really hoping you would be providing the DB this year! I usually tweaked the design so I could make the overviews I needed for me and the customers I was attending with. I'll have to figure something else out (I know it's available online, but will the agenda be downloadable?). In any case, thank you very much for your efforts in previous years!

1020.20. Bill Malchisky (01/10/2013 08:36 AM)

Thank you for your wonderful application over the years -- the best way to get sessions into one's calendar and stay organized on-the-go. You also were wonderful in helping to get my unofficial events into your application, thus allowing more people learn of them. I really appreciate all your work, sir.