So Oracle is moving OpenWorld to Las Vegas starting 2020. Says SF too expensive and sordid.
(Or is it no one wants to pay much to go to an Oracle user conference any more but O Hope's the Larry Lovefest will draw if there is gambling and vice on tap?)
So will this be good for customer engagement and retention or a sign companies willingness to pay for anything Oracle is decreasing? One means layoffs...
Sounds like the perfect place for Oracle's corruption to be promoted.
“ The Moscone Center (Moscone North, South and West) consists of more than two million square feet of building area, including over 700,000 square of exhibit space, up to 106 meeting rooms, and nearly 123,000 square feet of prefunction lobbies.”
“Oracle today confirmed that starting next year it’s moving OpenWorld to Caesars Forum, a new 550,000 square foot conference center in Las Vegas due to open next year.”
Just the actual conference center alone seems to be a downgrade in size. And then OOW had used conference space at many downtown hotels as well.
So the whole event will shrink in size... like the company?
"At Oracle, they had a pretty drastic change over in their marketing department, and the folks that ran Open World were different."
I'll say. I was laid off from Marketing and hired as a contractor for OpenWorld this year, and for the first time since I've been with O, this year was a nightmare.
Vegas, unfortunately, has plenty of homeless people, too.
https://www.businessinsider.com/homeless-people-are-living-in-storm-tunnels-underneath-las-vegas-2019-9
San Francisco is too sordid but Vegas isn't?
I don't think Vegas has a problem with homeless panhandlers who defecate in public.
I can understand the stated reason for going to Las Vegas, but there is more to the story. For the first time, Howard street was not shut down, and with that, the central congregation area which was awesome, was taken away. With Howard street shut, you had an Oracle Plaza, with chairs, and sofas, and carpet and you could get food and just relax and have meetings out there. Even people that were not paying Open World folks could come, attend/meet you outside and talk. It was amazing. This year...to save money or whatever, Howard Street was open to regular traffic, so there was no place to mingle and relax. The finished overhaul of Moscone was also a factor in that the layout was very different. At Oracle, they had a pretty drastic change over in their marketing department, and the folks that ran Open World were different. The people that Oracle hired to help out, we very nasty this year and didn't let people go into the buildings and basically hassled folks. So, there was no place to sit outside (Howard Street) and you couldn't go inside unless the rude people let you in. So while Oracle is citing the Hotel costs, and the street condition...they shot themselves in the feet by not closing Howard and having poor people run Open World 2019. Moving the conference to Las Vegas, now EVERYONE has to travel there, even Oracle employees. Now, you can't take the week before or after to do Oracle business at their HQ. Moving to Las Vegas might be the choice of this "new marketing group" but they are clueless on how deals - for 20 years - have been made at Open World. Think about all the events that will not happen that center around Oracle being in San Francisco. What a stupid decision to move away from SF.
San Francisco is too sordid but Vegas isn't? Oh brother. Having said that, it was a pain in the backside to deal with OpenWorld traffic and street closures. Vegas can handle the sprawl better.
Good move. Will be interesting to see if, and by how much, attendance goes up with lower lodging rates. But, will O cheap out even more on who to send now? Not local for HQ employees anymore.
probably one of the best decisions Oracle has made in some time, and i love talking c-ap about O here.
Thanks for the info HR
San Francisco is becoming a cesspool. O isn't the only one bailing out, not that SF leadership cares.
As a (non American) oracle customer and SFO guest OOW 2019 was the best from conference content since years but worse from the city - ever... (I was at OOW now about 10 times...)
Oracle is just following other conferences out of San Francisco, cost of lodging being one complaint from attendees, but also conditions on the streets (large homeless population defecating on the streets, tents set up, etc. No place for those people to go).
I'm not at all surprised by this move, and others are sure to follow.
https://www.barrons.com/articles/oracle-openworld-san-francisco-las-vegas-51576012793
Link to news