Tips for First-Timers Citrix Synergy 2013 in Los Angeles

The premier industry conference on mobile workstyle solutions powered by cloud services

We’ve all been there. Our first trip to Citrix Synergy. It’s both exciting and a bit daunting with so many labs, sessions and activities to choose from.

To help you have a fun and successful event, we’ve put together a list of Top Tips for First-Timers submitted by our great community of veteran Synergy attendees.! Enjoy

Pre-Conference - It may seem like common sense but it's worth repeating (and doing!!!): • Ensure that your company knows you are at a conference to learn for the company's

benefit. • Ensure your co-workers are prepared to cover for you in your absence, as you don't want

to spend the conference on the phone in the hallway. • Put in some extra time the week before to proactively head off any project questions or

requirements for the time you are gone.

At the Conference: • Attend sessions which are at or just above your skill level. • Talk with the vendors. They often have innovative ideas which you may be able to use

with your existing product set (and they will contact you post-conference). • Network. This is really important, though it may take stepping out of your comfort zone.

Try to find peers in other companies, as they can become good sounding boards for ideas or questions.

• Check your ego at the door. Xen*/*Scaler are very flexible and so odds are that someone has figured out a way to do things in a more efficient or easier to manage way than you have. It's okay to be proud of what you have done but don't drown other people.

• Take notes. Lots and lots of notes (see post-conference section on the next page) • Have fun. This is relatively easy at Synergy.

via Joshua Chase

Post-Conference: • Review your notes. • Resist the temptation to make changes right away. Create a plan and have solid

reasons for the change (that it is cool is not a reason). In the post-conference glow of new found knowledge you may have a tendency to short-circuit your critical faculties for a while. Recognize this and act accordingly.

• Recognize that not everyone went to the conference. They will tire quickly of fielding your ideas if you unleash them all at once. If you took good notes you will be able to refer back to them and bring out new ideas at a manageable pace (and you will appear the sage for an extended period of time, which is a good thing).

• Keep in touch with your contacts from the conference. By maintaining a good relationship they may be an asset when your next major initiative comes along.

via Joshua Chase

• Block time out of your busy schedule to take advantage of the self-paced labs.• Don't be afraid to ask questions during or after the presentations. Take advantage of all the

experts on-hand.via @clstaton

• Write all the questions that you are planning to ask when you meet the experts. • Be there one day before the actual day of Synergy to meet people who are registered.• Be there on time and enjoy the sessions from the start.• Download all the available sessions and read them to get more benefits.• Register and play the [Synergy mobile app] game to get points and benefits.

• Get your agenda set ahead of time. • Watch for them to open more Hands-on Labs seats. Those are the best sessions at Synergy. • If you can't get in to one ahead of time show up early if you are trying to waitlist it.

via Osama Yassin

via Paul Stansel

• Sign up for deep dives [Instructor-led Labs] early. If you can't, show up anyway, you get lucky and people don't show.

via @1jisung

• Follow the #CitrixSynergy hashtag on Twitter. In one example you might find yourself in session that wasn't what you expected, and someone might be tweeting about a session that really interests you, with this info you can easily switch sessions.

• Always have a backup session for each time slot. You might find yourself getting to a session late and it is beyond capacity, having a backup already figured out will save you a lot of time.

• Bring a spare battery or external charger for your smartphone. Long days away from an outlet lead to dead batteries.

• Connect with others, don't be afraid to introduce yourself to someone that you bump into between sessions or in the exhibit hall, chances are they are or were in the same boat before, new to the conference and not sure who to talk to.

• Dress comfortably, good shoes & socks(wool) will make the day a lot more enjoyable.

• As a First-timer one should never miss the Opening Keynote and Synergy Party.

via Sameer Mulani

via Greg Tiber

• Plan, plan and plan. Decide which sessions you would "must attend" "like to attend", and then fit them in the schedule. Remember it is a tech overload.

• Mobile app - Make use of the Synergy mobile app for various mobile platforms. Sync your schedules with your calendar provider (MS Exchange/Google Apps etc).

• Take a break - Sometimes the session overload can stop your brain from working.• Connect - A lot of networking opportunities, don't miss that.

via Siddharth Kumar

• Register for labs early • Pick things that are a stretch - if you know something save it for offline consumption• Sit up front, say hi to the presenters - they are just people• Identify with the sessions - don't compare - folks do things for many different reasons• Ask questions that add value - don't filibuster• Don't be that guy performing trouble tickets during a session - step out• Take notes and write up a trip report-trip = Company ROI

via @ShaneTech

There are 3 rules you need to follow: • Plan your Synergy before the even: Prepare agenda upfront, including all the sessions you

want to visit, which vendors to meet at the Expo that could be useful for you, and which people you want to meet in person. You can also start conversation before the show on Twitter or Facebook.

• Grab any chance to meet new people: Networking at Citrix Synergy is great. From my experiences I can tell you that people at Synergy are very very nice, so don't miss any opportunity to start the conversation, by the coffee station or of course at the Synergy Party.

• Come earlier: Come earlier to the keynote to be as close to the stage as possible (to catch give-aways easier:), come earlier to the sessions (to relax and maybe start conversation with the ones next to you), come earlier to the Expo Hall (don't wait for the last day, vendors may not have any give-aways left), come earlier to the party (Synergy party is always so good that you don't want to miss any minute of it).

via Evelina Emma Robas

• Don't be afraid to ask!• When you are at the exhibition floor ask whatever questions you have, that is why

people are standing there. And don't be afraid of challenging statements and ask follow-up questions.

• Same thing goes for sessions, during your sessions take notes and write down your questions when you think of them...you will forget them otherwise.

• All sessions have Q&A time scheduled in them, make sure to take advantage of this to ask questions. Don't wait until after the session to ask questions since you don't have much time between sessions and the presenter most likely has even less time...ask in the Q&A!

• If you see the presenter later in the conference, don't be afraid to ask questions again.• And as said many times...plan plan plan!

• Use the microplanner [located in your My Account] and the mobile app.• Keep backups where unsure about content.• Document during sessions and clean up the notes before you forget the content.• Don't waste time with photos of the presentation, they will be available online.• Network! This is one of the best places to build your professional network!

via Henrik Johansson

• Customers - if your partner is at Synergy, spend time with him/her. Attend the sessions together that will help you both map out your strategy and plans. Bounce ideas off each other to come up with the best way to address your goals - in the most cost effective way. And don’t forget to have some fun!

• Check out the booths and meet the vendors who work with Citrix. Learn about their solutions - even better, do this with your Citrix partner so you can bounce ideas off of each other and the vendors on your needs and goals.

• If there is a solution you are particularly interested in learning about, set up a time / appointment to discuss your company's situation.

via Ginnie McGivern

• Definitely review and fill out the Session Schedule ahead of time so you have a plan. But if a session does not seem good, feel free to leave and choose another.

• Ask a lot of questions in sessions and in discussions. Sometimes the most valuable things learned are from unplanned discussions around the event rather than inside it!

via Steve Greenberg

• Visit each Citrix partners booth, ask questions and you will learn a lot. Citrix has some amazing partners and great value that they bring with them for the customers.

via Pratik Shah

• Don't bring a backpack, you get one there.• Bring something to mark your bag as unique (like a tag or sticker) that way you don't accidentally

swap with someone else.

via Tom Gamull

• Join the conversation via social media. You can see a full list conference social media channels on the Synergy website.

• Don’t miss Geek Speak Tonight! on Tuesday. Check out the full Geek Speek Cheat Sheet here.• For the first time ever, the Solutions Expo will remain open on Friday, so take your time and have

fun chatting with people at each booth.• Train on your own schedule at the Self-paced Learning Labs. See the full schedule here.• Get your hands dirty in the Solutions Demo Sandbox playing with the most recent (and soon to be

announced) Citrix solutions.• Extend your training post-event by downloading PPTs from your My Account and watching

sessions you missed on-demand on SynergyTV. There is a note in the session description if the breakout is being recorded. via The Synergy Team

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