EC19: Know Before You Go

Enterprise Connect Orlando 2019 is right around the corner, and this year’s event is sure not to disappoint! As you get ready to pack your bags and head to the sunshine state, keep some of these event happenings top of mind.

 

For the third year running, organizer Alan Quayle has brought his TADHack-mini hackathon to Orlando ahead of Enterprise Connect. This year’s hackathon kicked off this morning at Valencia College, where hackers gathered to form teams and figure out which sponsor’s APIs they’re going to use to solve real-world problems.

 

Flowroute, VoIP Innovations (VI)/Apidaze, and TeleSign are sponsoring this year’s TADHack. Representatives from each of these sponsors opened the hackathon with presentations describing what you can do with their APIs and what they’re looking for with winning hacks. In addition to the $1,000 that each sponsor will be awarding for the event, VI is awarding an extra $250 gift card and is listing the winning hack on its new VI Showroom, a communications platform-as-a-service (CPaaS) marketplace it announced just this past week. TeleSign, a company new to the TADHack-mini Orlando, will also be rewarding its winning hack with a six-pack of Guinness -- in honor of St. Patrick’s weekend, as coders are skipping the local holiday festivities in order to participate in the TADHack.

 

We’ll be showcasing select winning hacks on Monday at Enterprise Connect, with winners presenting their apps in the session, “Hackathon Spotlight: Programmable Communications is for Everyone,” taking place at 2:00 p.m. in Naples.

 

In addition to the 30 or so hackers that showed up on site to develop their way to glory, some are participating remotely as well, Quayle told me, with at least one participant contributing all the way from Brussels. Hackers will be spending today and tomorrow developing their solutions, and by tomorrow evening, we should see the fruits of their labors. Tune back in for more coverage and don’t miss that Monday session at EC19 to see the hacks for yourself!

 

Another not-to-miss item for your Monday agenda is our Women’s Luncheon, where three women IT professionals will share their experiences navigating careers in a male-dominated industry.

 

Seating for the luncheon is limited, so an RSVP is required. Register here to attend the luncheon, hear from your women peers, and join in the discussion on advancing women in the industry.

 

In addition to the luncheon, don’t miss the other women- and diversity-focused sessions and functions taking place this week. On Monday at 7:00 p.m., we’ll be hosting a Women’s Networking Reception, sponsored by Cisco, taking place at the Castillo de San Marcos in the Gaylord Palms resort. On Tuesday, on the Expo floor in the EC Theater 100, there’s another opportunity to engage in the discussion around women’s advancement. Be there at 1:10 p.m. to hear a panel of women Cisco executives and customers in enterprise IT offer insight on how to navigate the pitfalls and work to foster success. Finally, on Wednesday morning, bright and early, join us for an opening session focused on diversity and inclusion initiatives -- for gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and beyond.

 

Of course, one of the top reasons many of us come to Enterprise Connect is the keynote lineup. This year’s keynotes are sure to be chock-full of interesting insights, not to mention announcements and strategies from some of the industry’s biggest vendors.

 

Keynotes kick off on Tuesday at 10:00 a.m., in the Osceola ballroom, with Microsoft’s Lori Wright, GM of Microsoft 365. Next up, at 10:45 a.m., Walmart’s Joe Park, chief digital architect and VP of associate digital experience, will take the stage. Following him, at 11:30 a.m., is Pasquale DeMaio, GM for Amazon Connect.

 

On Wednesday, the keynotes continue, starting at 10:00 a.m., with Cisco’s Amy Chang, SVP, Collaboration Technology Group, taking the EC stage for the first time. Google’s Rany Ng, director of product management, will close out the keynotes at 11:30 a.m.

 

In addition to our keynotes, each day will bring several can’t-miss general sessions, including a series of three fireside chats with executives from industry challengers Zoom Video Communications, RingCentral, and Twilio; and our first-ever contact center/customer experience panel on the big stage. And don’t miss two mainstage opportunities to hear from your enterprise peers. Monday at 11:15 a.m. you’ll hear from IT professionals at Lazard, Marine Rescue Technologies, and Quicken Loans about how they’re empowering their organizations for a developer-focused future. And on Tuesday, at 9:15 a.m., we’ll be hosting our annual Enterprise Summit, featuring panelists from Conde Nast, Continental AG, Hertz, Northwestern Mutual, Paychex, and Waste Management.

 

Each day will also feature a plethora of educational breakout sessions, ranging in technical level and subject matter. Of note, one of our most popular breakout sessions, our annual Cisco vs. Microsoft session led once again this year by subject matter experts Brent Kelly and Phil Edholm, is bigger and better than ever. Due to popular demand, this year the session will be held in the keynote room (Osceola C/D) to accommodate a larger crowd and will run for an hour and 15 minutes starting at 3:00 p.m. on Tuesday.

 

If you haven’t already, finalize your schedule so you can make sure you get the most out of your week in Orlando!