The vastness that is IBM is made smaller by events that encourage the exchange of ideas and concepts. The ‘Technical Leadership Exchange’ is one such event. This is an event as its name suggests is predominantly for technology leaders to meet and exchange ideas and novel concepts in their regions. So you can imagine how stoked I was when I received a nomination to attend! (thanks STG management team!).
The event ran roughly over the first week of August and incorporated sessions from all parts of the IBM technology spectrum. Sessions ran from early morning till late afternoon and the demonstration area incorporated concepts along the lines of ‘i-was-mucking-around-and look-what-i-discovered-to-have-real-value’. On a personal level I found it refreshing to see how the Corporation encourages innovation ranging from the ’small and quirky’ to the ‘theres a better way to do something we’ve always been doing’. I also enjoyed thoroughly, the very candid sessions we had with senior WorldWide technology leaders and Distinguished Engineers.
All in all, this conference was of a different nature to IBM internal conferences I have previously attended. While it didnt quite have the glam of larger conferences, it was very rich in content and community – exactly what a purist technical conference should be 
On the flight back home to New Zealand, I was bright eyed and wondering if in 2009 I would be sufficiently established in a subject with considerable susbtance to present to my peers.
