Following our previous post on the Gartner Cannes Fall Symposium (Is Gartner going Symposium frenzy? Part 1/2) on the content side this time, we would start with agreeing with Joe that there was no real news (read Does Symposium have a future?) and he may have a point as the Borg picking up noise and no real trend (read also Does size implies relevance?). His analysis leads him to predict Symposium the same fate as Comdex.
Gartner’s CEO, Gene Hall introduced the event. He evidently got himself a presentation coach after the nervous and wooden spring performance but was still reading from the prompter. We advise the Borg to purchase a W magic jacket and matching earpiece. The opening keynote was rehearsed OTT, long and not bringing much to the theme (Faster ROI) launched by Gene in the introduction. We suggest the Borg to make an effort to actually follow-through the theme during the whole event and to apply Fast ROI to their vendor clients, for instance by making sure the EXP crowd actually sets foot on the show-floor…
As for the rest of the content, it was not very different from the Barcelona gig and they obviously kept some in store for the Amsterdam Data Centre Summit.
Tuesday, 15 November 2005
Is Gartner going Symposium frenzy? Part 2/2
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Gene Hall was also at a significant disadvantage because the analysts that immediately followed him on stage are much more polished and dynamic -- making him looks even worse in comparison.
The other problem with putting Hall on stage to deliver real content and not just a "welcome" is that he was not brought to Gartner because he is a brilliant analyst. Gene is an operations guy hired by Silver Lake Partners (the true power at Gartner) to fix the business model and sales machine in order to get Gartner's revenues and profits -- and by extension stock price -- growing again. Let's face it, Gene is no Gideon Gartner, Dale Kutnick or George Colony.
I don't get the vibe that Gene has the type of ego where he demanded the spotlight. I wonder if it is more Gartner Events planners thinking that the CEO is expected to present content. In the end it might have been a case of Events persuading Gene to do it against his better judgement.
Absolutely. It's a sign of maturity that the CEO is a suit rather than an analyst. A CEO of a public firm is basically a frequent flying ambassador to the investors. He only needs to perform well face to face with them. Gartner might need a media-savvy figurehead for its research business, but that doesn't need to be an executive.
Post a Comment