This is a guest post by Oracle ACE Pro Joel Acha
My journey to CloudWorld 2023 got off to a dramatic start. We left Heathrow on time, but just over an hour into the flight, the pilot announced that we had to turn back due to a fuel pump issue; two of the nineteen pumps had an issue, and it was just a precautionary measure to have them checked out. After landing in Heathrow and waiting nearly two hours whilst the fuel pumps were looked at and eventually fixed, we were cleared for takeoff again, only to be informed that immigration officials in Los Angeles had refused to wait for our flight and our flight had to be cancelled. It was nearly midnight at this time and no hotel rooms were available around the airport, so I spent the night at a hotel in central London.
The next morning, after breakfast, I ordered an Uber to the airport. But when I got out at Heathrow, I realised that I’d left my backpack at the hotel! The driver and I noticed the heavy traffic in the opposite direction heading into London and I quickly decided to order another Uber to retrieve it from the hotel and I met the driver at the drop off point with just minutes to spare before check-in closed.
With the backpack crisis averted, I finally arrived in Las Vegas for my first time at CloudWorld. Gambling machines greet you everywhere in Vegas, even at baggage claim in the airport. They’re ubiquitous throughout the hotels and casinos along the Strip.
CloudWorld Las Vegas was a larger affair than the CloudWorld Tours I’ve attended in London. It provided a great opportunity to connect in person with Oracle analytics folks from product management, strategy and marketing that I’ve gotten to know through my work and as the Analytics track lead for ODTUG.
I did get lost each day trying to navigate my way from the Las Vegas Monorail station from my hotel to the conference location. Walking through the hotels and casinos, with gambling machines blinking everywhere, was an experience in itself!
The Oracle ACE lounge at the conference was buzzing with networking. I got to meet some ACEs face-to-face for the first time after connecting previously only on Zoom. I also volunteered at the Oracle ACE lounge, spreading the word about the program, and handing out swag.
Other ACE activities included an adventure day for kayaking at Colorado River that I sadly missed as my nephew flew in from LA to spend the day exploring Vegas. But I did attend the ACE dinner with nearly 100 ACEs, about a quarter of all global Oracle ACEs in attendance.
I co-presented a well-attended standing room only session with ACE Director Tim German in which we discussed how Oracle Analytics enables various personas to derive insights from their data.
You can find my key takeaways of my CloudWorld experience in a blog post I wrote which highlighted how the overarching theme of CloudWorld was Generative AI which has been introduced into a wide variety of Oracle products ranging from database, Fusion applications, Oracle Analytics and APEX to name just a few that were announced.
While the travel hiccups provided an adventurous start, CloudWorld 2023 proved to be an invaluable experience. Immersing myself in the latest innovations, connecting face-to-face with industry experts, and exploring all that Las Vegas has to offer made the journey worthwhile. It was great to reconnect with Oracle ACEs, gain new insights, and continue following this technological revolution unfolding before our eyes. With the momentum building around Oracle’s cloud portfolio, the future looks bright for what next year’s CloudWorld has in store.