Numbers Up at SNW

October 6, 2006: In initial comments on the evaluation of Storage Networking World, SNIA board member Rob Stirling, labelled the event a 'phenomenal' success.

Back in his office and recovering from the event this week, Rob Stirling said this SNW 2006 was up by approximately 30% on conference delegates from last year, with a doubling on the number of vendors exhibiting.

"We ended up with 301 delegates which is phenomenal," he said. "Our primary objective was the number of delegates and the quality of delegates."

Rob said a presentation from David Dale rated particularly well even given its strong technical nature. "We always thought people were more interested in the end-user case studies," he said. "Of all the 12 major speakers, the ratings were extremely high."

One of the keys to monitoring the success of the event was provided through the keypad survey system. With delegates able to rate the quality of each presentation, the event organisers could also gain statics on the participants as well instant results from audience polls.

In looking ahead to 2007, Rob says he will be building on the success of this year's event. "Not to sound arrogant, but we were probably 99% right this year, so we will be working on that 1%."

Rob sited the participation of the delegates as his personal highlight of the event. "The band started playing, the party started, but people wanted to stay in the conference room and still talk about the issues."

Further reports on the event are expected to be released next week

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