LAKE BUENA VISTA, FL–Dieser PC hat mehrfache Sprachenfahigkeiten.
That's German for “This PC has multiple language capabilities.” And it's one of eight languages you can file stories in at 25 Internet-enabled computers in the pressroom at the 2005 Annual Teradata Partners User Group Conference and Expo. Sixty journalists from 20 countries are covering this week's event inside the Disney World estate. Reporters showed up from lands as far away as Australia, India, Chile and Bolivia.
Day one was typical of pressrooms at various marketing shows, regardless of accent: questions on latest news releases, full-throated greetings and conversations, the clickety-clack of keyboards, inquiries about computers and wireless Internet access, and checking up on Yahoo Mail.
Of course, there were questions about the lunch menu. Yesterday's lunch included a bacon-and-cheese sandwich, a green apple, chips and chocolate chip cookies. The hotel kitchen faltered because it wasn't supposed to be only bacon-and-cheese, so the vegetarians and Indians went straight to dessert. The problem was later fixed. The conference is organized by the NCR-owned database giant's users. This year's show attracted 3,202 registrants, up almost 30 percent from the 2,500-odd who attended last year. Like years past, delegates are mid- to senior-level executives in IT and marketing functions with database responsibilities.
They hail from 53 countries, including Latvia, Cyprus and Nigeria. They are here to listen as well as share best practices using Teradata data warehousing software and services.
“It's kind of to spread the religion of Teradata,” said Teradata spokesman Keith A. Wiederhold.
Mickey Alam Khan covers Internet marketing campaigns and e-commerce, agency news as well as circulation for DM News and DMNews.com. To keep up with the latest developments in these areas, subscribe to our daily and weekly e-mail newsletters by visiting www.dmnews.com/newsletters . Mickey Alam Khan is a guest of Teradata at the conference.
