There are several reasons that made my decision to attend this year's ENGAGE conference easy. One of the main reasons this year is the outstanding conference break out sessions that will be presented this year. With over 300 session submissions and only 130+ slots to fill, the demand for outstanding speakers wanting to present great informative topics has never been higher. The end result of this scenario is that we will have excellent content at ENGAGE. Our hardest decision as conference attendees will be "Which excellent session will I attend?" when there are several excellent sessions at the same time in all time slots! That is a great problem to have!
Another reason to attend is networking. Having attended many IAUG conferences over the years, networking is one of the most valuable resources you gain. Being able to see your peers year after year as well as meeting new peers to bring in your conversations is invaluable as a professional. At the end of the day, everyone at ENGAGE fights basically the same battle. To be able to bounce different ideas or solutions off of different people with different perspectives has been one of those benefits that you just cannot put a price on!
The third reason to attend this year's conference is Austin! The Austin Convention Center is an awesome state of the art facility situated in downtown Austin with a whole host of things to do in the area. From a vibrant music scene, fabulous food, to a quirky downtown vibe, this location is sure to please all of us conference goers!
Lastly, I am looking forward to seeing Avaya's vision forward. From the overall vision of the company to the announcements of new Avaya technology, this is the place to hear everything Avaya first hand! With new product announcements during the daily general sessions to seeing the technology in action on the solutions floor, no Avaya question should go unanswered.
As you can see I am REALLY looking forward to ENGAGE!
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Slade Besson
Director of Telecommunications and Networking
Nicholls State University
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