These are short notes from a trip to Las Vegas, NV where I attended the Adobe Summit Conference 2019. The conference was dedicated to digital transformation that’s been a hot subject for a couple of years. It’s been a while since my last visit in the USA so I took this opportunity and turned it into a bleasure trip.
Connecting inner goal of an individual with the goal of the company is the miracle.
Spot on tips
- Online meeting technology, virtual rooms, laptop cameras, and always-connected networks eliminate geographical barriers and make possible for global teams to collaborate but, people, especially business enablers, still like, want, and need to meet in a real world.
- English is a global language to communicate, but in order to be understood by business people in organization a language protocol is critical - don’t just talk what you think and know but talk using Project Management principles and terms.
- Elevator’s pitch allows you to introduce yourself to new people - at a conference you meet mostly new people.
- Teams which organize big events have it all thought through - use resources that accompany the event, read thoroughly the event’s website, get comfortable with a mobile app, check calendar and notifications, follow the crowd.
- Hiring new people to do more work without solid, optimized processes is tricky and confusing.
- It looks like AI is happening (Sensei) and will eliminate daunting tasks such as searching, indexing, organizing assets. Along with cloud services it is a sky-is-the-limit technology tandem.
- The Adobe account executive admits that companies buy tools and technology but usage and retention remains on a low level - it is an opportunity for learning resources and education
- Many times there are political decisions involved despite the obvious fact what’s right or wrong; brace yourself
Travel tips
- Melatonin pills is a true miracle.
- Remember to take wired headphones and a chewing gum on the plane.
- Always carry a small water container and a sandwich while traveling/flying to save money on water for no food service flights.
- Paperless travel documents (reservations, tickets, boarding passes) save you space as well as the planet but be prepared for critical conditions, delays, lost phone, and write down or print out the most important facts.
- Consider selecting “vegetarian food” with the airline ticket as special food orders come serve first.
- Traveling and working on airports is possible, but don’t plan to work intensively on a project but rather to respond to emails and monitor available information.
- “Be quick but do not hurry” especially when you pick up breakfast at McDonalds or pay at the cashier with a proximity terminal for groceries or goods - be present.
- Next time before searching new music, make sure you learned lyrics of your favorite old songs (The Killers concert).
- We love hipster stories of penniless heroes traveling across countries but at the same time we waste food, clothes, and completely forget about reusing things (inspired by_ “On the road” _J. Kerouac).
- Before traveling to exotic locations, inform your bank to accept forthcoming credit card transactions; monitor your bank statement for suspicious transactions.
- Mobile devices connected to the Internet elevate traveling to a completely new level in terms of accessing and sharing information. Having a smartphone with GPS does not make you a dumber traveler, compare to yourself 20 years ago, as long as you prepare for the new environment; download maps and apps with in advance and prepare for offline access as well.