We are hosting a Discovery Summit Special Segment in Cary on Oct. 21. It’s a one-day conference with a $150 registration fee. We plan to keep user registration to 100 people; we also plan to limit staff attendance to just those who need to be there.
The idea is to test the waters, as they say, by making our first U.S.-based in-person pandemic event a small one. This will help us see just how hungry our users are for meeting in person. And we can practice our new safety protocols on campus in preparation for Spain in March 2022.
The Day’s Content
The Special Segment includes a full day of invited talks, facilitated discussions and opportunities to share thoughts with technical staff. We’ll have a JMP lab and Ask the Expert sessions during Discovery Expo hours. We will build in time for the types of activities that don’t work as well online, like impromptu conversations and chatting over meals.
Dr. Alyson G. Wilson has agreed to speak as a keynote, and we’ll be asking John Sall to give a short talk too.
One of the most important parts of this day will be what we’re calling the User Spotlight. In a talk-show format, a JMP staff member will conduct a 20-minute customer interview, covering the business challenges faced, the analytic solutions tried, and the results achieved. It’s like one of our regular success stories, but we’ll be doing it as a conversation.
We’re also featuring Lightning Talks during plenary sessions. (We don’t love this name, so send us your naming suggestions for this segment.) These are 7-minute analytic stories – challenge, solution, results -- to run one right after another. These talks are followed by Show & Tell where the presenters show off their data analyses on big screens in the Expo Hall.
Safety Protocols
We’re working to create a safe, comfortable, and Covid-free environment for this gathering. As such, we are requiring all attendees – guests and employees -- to be fully vaccinated with no exceptions.
The one-day event will be held entirely on SAS Campus inside and outside of the Executive Briefing Center in Building C. The building’s filtration system meets or exceeds all operational guidelines provided by the manufacturer, and Covid-specific cleaning protocol will be in place. Food and beverage services will be tailored to meet our new safety standards as well. As of now, masks will be optional. However, we reserve the right to make masks mandatory.
Unlike most Discovery Summits, attendance will be purposefully limited, and social distancing will be encouraged.
Attendees who are sick or have any reason to believe they have been exposed to Covid-19 will not be admitted to the conference, but they will be fully refunded. Likewise, any employees who are sick or have any reason to believe they may have been exposed will not attend the event.
Invite Strategic Customers
With only 100 seats for JMP users, we encourage you to begin talking about the day to your strategic customers – before registration opens. This is uncharted territory, and we don’t know who will want to come. Because local people seem like the most likely, we will be promoting the event to users who are within driving distance. So, it’s up to you to tell users from key accounts about this special day.
When Attending isn’t Possible
Don’t worry. We know that most JMP users won’t be in a situation to travel for work this year.
That’s why we’re hosting a full-blown online Discovery Summit Americas Oct. 5-7. Like the Discovery Summits you’ve become used to, we’re featuring user-contributed papers and posters as well as thought-provoking keynotes. All JMP staff in the Americas – except for Bus Ops who might have something more pressing to work on -- register and attend. With the exception of colleagues in Asia who should be asleep, all JMP customer care and marketing staff around the world should attend as well.
Questions & Answers
- If you have a customer that you really want to be there, what should you do?
Send them to this page that will be updated with details as they become available. And tell them to register on August 31 – the day registration opens. Be sure to send a direct link that day too.
- If you have a customer that you really want to go but can’t afford the $150 registration price, what should you do?
Have them register on August 31 to ensure they get a seat. And give them this one-time comp code to use when registering: Wolf
- If you have a customer that you really want to go who can’t afford the travel and hotel costs, what should you do?
Tell them not to worry because the online event will be awesome. Remind them that they can get to Discovery Summit Americas info at www.jmp.com/discovery-americas. And they can get to info about the whole series from www.jmp.com/discovery
- If you have a customer that is still uncomfortable attending an in-person event, what should you do?
Tell them you understand and not to worry because the online event will be awesome. Remind them that they can get to Discovery Summit Americas info at www.jmp.com/discovery-americas. And they can get to info about the whole series from www.jmp.com/discovery
- If you have a customer that will not be fully vaccinated by Oct. 21, what should you do?
Tell them you hope they’re able to get vaccinated soon, but not to worry about missing this event. The online event will be awesome. Remind them that they can get to Discovery Summit Americas info at www.jmp.com/discovery-americas. And they can get to info about the whole series from www.jmp.com/discovery
- If you want to staff the event but you will not be fully vaccinated by Oct. 21, what should you do?
Get vaccinated so that you may be invited to attend.
- If you really want to help staff the event, what should you do?
Keep an eye on Inside JMP for more about that.
- If you are not yet comfortable staffing an in-person event for whatever reason, what should you do?
Nothing now. If you’re asked to attend, simply say you’re unable to do so.
- If you’re interested in giving a lightning talk, what should you do?
Reach out to Jeff Perkinson right now!
- If you have a better name for our lightning talks, what should you do?
Reach out to Jeff Perkinson and Diana Levey right now, or simply put it in the comments section below.
- If you don’t live locally but you’d really like to attend, is there any chance of getting to come?
There is a slight chance. Keep an eye on Inside JMP for more about that.
- Why is registration so low?
Because we expect that many travel and conference budgets have been slashed.
- Why charge for registration?
Charging is actually a great way to know who really plans to attend; people are more likely to show up if they’ve committed any money. And to ensure a smooth event, we need to know how many people to expect.
- What will we do when registration is almost full?
We’ll change the registration form to say the conference is sold out, but that interested users can put themselves on a wait list. Wait listed users will get seats if space allows.
- Is there a conference hotel? No – there are no reserved rooms because it’s such a short event. But we are recommending The RTP Embassy Suites and The Umstead as safe and convenient options.
- What should you do if you’ve been asked to staff the event, but you come down with a cold or other sickness right before it?
Let the team know not to expect you, and then stay home. The last thing you want to do is show up to a conference during a pandemic with a cough or runny nose.
- Have a question we didn’t anticipate?
Ask it in the comments section below.
Discovery Summit Americas Special Segment
Oct. 21, 9:00 am to 8:00 p.m. ET
SAS Executive Briefing Center
SAS World Headquarters
Cary, North Carolina
