Authored by: Opal Alapat, Oracle ACE Director, Oracle Cloud EPM
The much-awaited ODTUG Kscope23 conference took place in beautiful Denver, CO, this year. With sunny skies and beautiful temperatures, educational content, award-winning expert presenters, and fantastic company, Kscope23 was a winner!
*photo courtesy of the author
ODTUG is the Oracle user group behind this spectacular annual conference. This conference focuses on 5 main areas of technology: Oracle APEX, Oracle Enterprise Performance Management (EPM), Oracle Database, Oracle Analytics, and cutting-edge “emerging technologies” (which features adjacent components like Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and more).
Many of the speakers are customers, Oracle partners, and vendors. Oracle does a monumental job of partnering with Kscope, bringing product managers, developers, high-up management, and sales consultants in full force. They always have an impressive and interesting booth, and this year didn’t disappoint with their simulation race car, which paired nicely with this year’s keynote presentation.
The conference kicked off on Saturday with the annual Kathleen McCasland Community Service Day. This happens every Saturday before the conference and is a way for ODTUG to give back to the local community. This year ODTUG partnered with Mile High Behavioral Health Care (MHBHC) in Aurora, CO, and assisted them with some much-needed repairs and clean-up at their facility.
*photo courtesy of ACE Associate Kurt Mayer
Sunday is known for being the day of Oracle Symposiums. The Titanium sponsor, vendor Applied OLAP, also joined in on the fun with their own track. Many users flock to the Sunday Symposiums to get a healthy grasp of Oracle’s vision for the upcoming year and the chance to ask Oracle product managers direct questions about the products.
The Oracle APEX Sunday Symposium! *photo courtesy of ACE Pro Lino Schilde
The conference formally kicks off on Monday with an entertaining General Session. This year it was conducted by Oracle’s very own Carrie Nielsen and Vertice’s Abi Giles-Haigh, Oracle ACE Director. A key message this year was how A.I. is being used extensively throughout Oracle’s product ecosphere, lessening the administrative tasks users and administrators face, with many more use cases and promises to come.
*photo courtesy of ODTUG
The predictive nature of this technology wowed the crowd. Carrie and Abi talked about Oracle Analytics’ partnership in the international sports arena and dressed up their talk with cool props and demos from their work with Premier League.
*photo courtesy of the author
Then the main content sessions began. Presenters from all over the world talked about their experiences with Oracle products and emerging technologies. Content is promised to be high-quality at Kscope, and this year they honored that vow. Strategically placed networking events helped break up the learning throughout the week.
Oracle ACEs are always in abundance at ODTUG Kscope. You will find ACEs from every level presenting, helping customers, working with Oracle product managers, and providing guidance on all things Oracle. Tuesday night the ACEs got together to talk shop, hang out, and enjoy one of the major perks of the Oracle ACE program. Thanks to the Oracle ACE program for hosting us!
*photo courtesy of the Oracle ACE Program
This year, ODTUG Kscope added a brand new offering: an APEX boot camp! Listed as an add-on to the conference for a nominal fee, it was a hit! Attendees of the special boot camp spent 2 days immersed in APEX development principles. Congrats, ODTUG, on a boot camp well done!
The Kscope Wednesday night special event is an entertaining party and a much-deserved break from all the educational content! This year it was hosted at the Denver Aquarium and attendees were able to tour the facility, while being treated to amazing food, drinks, and a smorgasbord of entertainment.
*photo courtesy of ODTUG
*photo courtesy of ODTUG
*photo courtesy of ACE Director Heli Helskyaho
*photo courtesy of ODTUG
This year’s conference was one for the books! ODTUG Kscope always promises great content, free networking events, quality experts, and fun between the madness. They did not disappoint! The food was rocking, the events delightful, and it was great to spend time with the ODTUG family again.
Tired of virtual learning? In-person conferences are back! And this year’s ODTUG Kscope showed us the strength and resilience of this community.
Next year, Kscope will be in the amazing city of Nashville, TN, from July 14-18, 2024. We’ll see you there!
