In little less than four weeks (April 8-10) Las Vegas will again be the host to the Who’s Who of Magento ecosystem. We will be there as well so here’s a quick introduction to the Imagine eCommerce Conference with some key things to watch out for if you plan on attending.
What happens in Vegas…
…will probably be tweeted, statused, uploaded to YouTube or extensively blogged about. Let’s face it, with Imagine Conference being touted as THE place to be if you’re working with Magento and with over 1500 attendees, there will be a lot going on. People at the conference will create huge loads of content and many will report in real time.
The rest of the folks who stayed at home will also be looking at what’s going on so they don’t miss out on some important piece of news. And for their eyes only, some of the keynotes and breakout sessions will most likely be available via live streaming so pretty much everyone will have a good idea of how things are shaping up hour after hour.
Now, for the conference itself…
The Art of Commerce – should we lose the “e”?
This is a notion that’s been around for quite some time, and it’s worthy of a standalone blog post, but in a nutshell, the concept is that we’re here (anyone working on software development tied to digital commercial transactions) to enable new innovative ways of connecting people who have something to sell with those who want to buy it, regardless of how the transaction is actually taking place – what device, application or web service is being used in the process.
We’re all very aware that technologies are changing at a pace sometimes too fast to keep up with, but the underlying understanding of human nature and what makes us tick is something that will prove to be an invaluable asset for any business wanting to grow in the very near future. This is why all the E’s, M’s, F’s and other types of commerce will make way to the one big “C” without prefixes.
And I expect much of the narrative around this year’s event will evolve around exactly this – showcase after showcase of commerce solutions fully integrated with clients’ business processes.
Magento, X.commerce, eBay and all that jazz
Of course, since this is primarily a Magento-based event, everyone in the ecosystem will be looking to hear the latest news on the Magento-eBay-X.commerce relationship, and here are some questions that will most likely be posted and hopefully answered:
- What are eBay’s short and long-term plans for Magento?
- What’s the current state of X.commerce?
- When can we expect Magento 2 official rollout?
- How will it all affect Magento certification process?
- When will Imagine come to Europe? 🙂
Of course, we’ll all be keeping our eyes open for spotting new achievements in performance optimization, integration and creative UX solutions as the conference rolls out, and knowledge sharing is something Magento community never shied away from.
Network, network, network…
This is one all-too-familiar mantra for anyone attending an industry-specific conference, but at Imagine it will be brought to a whole new level. With the community around Magento being so vibrant and diverse, there are many interesting people that will be around The M Resort during these three days so there will be plenty of opportunities to exchange some ideas, learn from or simply have a quick laugh with some of them. But, since your time on this conference will pass extremely quickly, you have to choose wisely and prepare well in advance.
Take a look at the list of attendees and get in touch before the conference as many of us will be on a very tight schedule (at least before the parties kick in).
…but don’t forget to enjoy the moment
Yes, you are here with a purpose and chances are (if you, like myself, will be coming from Europe, or even farther away) you didn’t get here only to kick back and forget about your daily troubles, but do try to come with a mindset that you are indeed lucky enough to be able to meet the most prominent members of Magento’s community in one place.
I for one will be looking forward to finally meeting in person a number of solution partners who I got to know only via Twitter and/or email, as well as hearing Steve Levitt, the co-author of Freakonomics, give his keynote.
Take it all in, be grateful and enjoy the ride.
See you soon in Vegas!
