And the Steering Committee said...
“I loved the look of the conference center,” said Maria Lanzerath of WL Gore, saying that it enhanced the experience.
Sebastian Hoffmeister, Roche Diagnostics admitted loving the leaderboard and collecting of points. “It was somewhat of a motivator to me,” he said.
Intel’s Kevin Lennon said he loved Anne Milley as moderator, giving her compliments for keeping conversations going so smoothly.
Pilar Gomez Jimenez of Johnson Matthey spoke about the “feel” of the event, saying, “You managed to have the same friendly conference online.” She said it was difficult finding the words to describe the feeling, but that we accomplished something significant with Discovery Summit Europe.
Some topics took off
“Talking to the developers is a game changer,” said Telefonica’s Alfredo Lopez Navarro. “They were great,” said Philip O’Leary of Murata Electronics, talking about Meet the Developer opportunities. Intel’s Lennon said, “Those developer sessions were fantastic,” and suggested that we make our R&D staff available for customer queries more often.
Committee members spoke highly about the Zoom functionality that allowed questions to come in at any time during any of the talks. Jean Auge of PHI-XO in France said he thought attendees could ask more questions because of the simu-live paper and poster format. “The ability to talk to the presenters live is an extra bonus,” said Seamus Power of Analog Devices International. And Kiernan O’Mahony of Darygold said he loved that, as a presenter, he could answer questions in real time.
Both the content and format of the plenaries were discussed. Merck’s Angela Manginelli said she loved the format, particularly when two speakers could have an open discussion. Pilar Gomez Jimenez of Johnson Matthey said, “The keynotes are amazing – well done on choosing them. They make people think.” Maria built upon that idea, saying that the broader topics of the plenary sessions can help people “get out of their data analytics boxes” and see society from a different perspective. John Sall’s plenary session received rave reviews from the committee, of course. Alfredo Lopez Navarro described Sall’s style as including “a dash of humor” and lots of examples. “He’s brilliant at doing that,” he said.
All but one Steering Committee member really liked that papers and posters were recorded and available for viewing prior to the event. Ergon Gross of Symrise AG said the recordings meant he didn’t have to miss any talks. And Jacqueline Asscher, Israeli lecturer and consultant, said she was able to watch content ahead of time and then attend the simu-live sessions ready with questions.
The convenience of the online event did mean that more people could attend. Registration numbers showed that. And Egon, Birgitte and other committee members confirmed that more of their colleagues attended this year than in years when travel had been needed.
However, the convenience of attending the conference from home offices meant new and different inconveniences. Children and pets played a part of the distraction. But work obligations and calendar conflicts were the most bothersome, per most of the Steering Committee members. Intel’s Lennon said, “I did a full week’s work last week and attended the conference. It was hell.” He said that getting away from work and being able to immerse yourself is key. Angela agreed, and said that being home makes it “difficult to be in the JMP bubble” that she loves so much.
Even when we’re in-person again for future Discovery Summits, this committee liked the idea of keeping some conference materials and events online for JMP users who can’t travel. A couple of committee members, however, said to be careful not to make the online event so wonderful and content-rich that there’s no need to travel to attend in-person. OPTIMA Nonwovens’ Björn Arnold said he doesn’t want his boss saying, “If there’s so much online, why should I send you there?”
Don’t worry, we can say to Discovery Summit fans. We will share great content online and make that experience interactive and fun when we can. But the in-person component will always have a red-carpet feel that simply cannot be replicated online.
