General Consultant Discussion

Moving forward. The tentative dates for the first annual 90Minds group conference is 2/10/12 - 2/11/12. Plan to arrive on the 9th or prior with departure on the 12th or later. Meeting will be held at the DSD conference center. Alnoor, John and Myron, will you confirm that these dates are workable for you? If so, I will drop the word tentative fromt the dates and start to roll out the conference to the 90Minds group.

Have we determined an agenda - will Alnoor or Myron be there to cover scripting? Honestly this would have low value to me otherwise and I would question why we couldn't just meet at Summit as I have from the start. There needs to be a confirmed agenda that meets our needs. I know we've talked about these things I just don't know if they are confirmed with key people. I recommend starting a single Google Doc in the 90 Minds Google Apps that roughs out an agenda for the day as it's too difficult to track chit chat here in the group.

I am just trying to get everyone to save the date. Once the key players are committed to the date, then we can work on the agenda.

I sent an Outlook calendar invite to 90Minds list. Hopefully, we'll soon have a list of members open to attending.

Looks like Jim Woodhead wins the door prize for first one to sign up..........

Looks good to me -- are we staying at Woodhead's house?

We have a spare bedroom with a futon bed. (full size). Have at it. :)

I do promise a BBQ at my house one of the nights (I cook a mean tri-tip).

Early responses - 28 total invites, 8 Accept, 6 Tentative

I just accepted. If I accept on my iPhone, it doesn't seem to update the sender.

I created a folder ""Meeting 2011"" in the 90 Minds Google Apps. Inside that folder I created a document for creating an agenda. You'll have to login with your @90minds.com address. See if you can view/edit that document. We should create an agenda in advance because most people are going to demand that before laying out any cash to travel.

I've accepted the invitation to attend. In addition to scripting, I really want to see our SMI is a viable solution.

It seems like Eric Anderson may have some real world experience with SMI - hopefully we can get him or someone from his place to represent SMI from a VAR perspective.

You'll have to login with your @90minds.com email to get at this - it's the start of an agenda. https://docs.google.com/a/community.90minds.com/document/d/1MMnYp_otm5qqvd5iJwRKTCSk4_LEKqLc_IgknsiX4O8/edit?hl=en_US

Has Eric accepted the invitation to join 90Minds? I didn't send him a San Diego invite because he wasn't part of the group yet.

Wayne, didn't see the new Collection. Is it shared with everyone in the group?

I think you have to login with your 90Minds.com address.

I am. Just seeing a Sample Collaboration Document.

Jim W, do you have a preferred hotel with group rates that is near your HQ? We need to start working on the lodging location.

I am not seeing the agenda either. Loggd on with my 90minds ID. All I sse ithe September 90 minds hangout document and the 90 minds reference guide.

This is odd. If I log into Google using my 90Minds login, the document does not appear. If I click on Wayne's link, I can access the document.

Same for me Jeff.

John, did you make any comments on the agenda?

Jim, any thoughts on lodging arrangements?

Can someone share it with pwolf@azamba.com please?

There are some great hotels in the UTC area which is fairly close to the office. The Embassy Suite is a good one that is usually reasonable.. Plus it has a great breakfast . I will call to see if we can get a discounted rate.

Thanks, I've put the latest list of attendees on the agenda.

I'm going to send out an e-mail inquirying about spouses, significant others or anyone else that may be coming along for the warm weather and sunny February climate. Will be interesting to see if others are turning this into a spring break week. My wife has expressed interest in coming out.

Erik Anderson just declined the invitation. Would someone who knows him a bit better than me give him a shout to inquire. 30 minutes prior he was a tentative response but just changed it to decline.

I don't know him but my guess is that he's afraid of success.

Just posted some comments on the agenda.

@JohnShaver - did you post comments or edit the document? I don't see any comments in the document and (as far as I can tell), I can't tell individual edits.

I edited the document in the Other Thoughts on Presentations section.

I see - you expanded on FotF stuff that could be covered.

Ed may be able to co-present with me if we can do our session on Friday.

@JohnShaver - That would be awesome! @JimWoodhead - Does the DSD tech center have a baby grand??? I love when he plays Broadway tunes.............

Time to move beyond the fail safe point with the meeting. When is a good time to conference together?

Jim Woodhead - Any feedback on hotel rooms?

Good News from Eric Anderson - Hi Jeff, I have the dates saved on my calendar and plan on attending. I have a meeting with my boss on Friday and should get final approval at that point to attend. Thanks for the follow up! Sure - that sounds good. I'll give you a call when I have a few minutes, maybe tomorrow. I'm trying to take a semi-vacation with my family, while working with some clients in vegas so sorry for the delay. I think we're at the point where we don't really lead with anything anymore - we discuss both options and let the client steer us. I think BizNet is a better financial reporter and you start and end in excel which everybody loves...but, installation is more difficult - need SQL database - I think the install typically runs 3-4 hrs to get it up and running. SMI takes about 15 minutes, but once it is up it the client needs much more hand-holding to customize reports. SMI also reaches into any MAS tables, where BizNet doesn't. So for true Business Intelligence - SMI is a better tool in my opinion. For an FRx replacement, BizNet might be a little easier to use but harder to get up and running. We're in the beta testing group for the SMI FRx conversion and that looks very promising. I've been demoing SMI custom financial grouping and tree functionality in our users' meetings (we did SLC, Boise and today is Vegas) and everyone seems impressed with the functionality. Anyway, I hope to be somewhat up to speed with BizNet as well in the next month or so - hopefully I can compare and contrast the features at our 90 minids meeting.