Welcome to my second annual Splash review. Like last year, I found it extremely informative. Unlike last year, I found that I knew a lot more people. If last year was the first day of high school, now I’m a sophomore. It’s starting to feel familiar.
This year had the added benefit of being in New Orleans, my college town. A place close to my heart. If you spoke to me at the conference for more than 2 minutes you would have heard all about this. I got a chance to visit a couple of the old hangouts, and spent way too much buying souvenirs at the Tulane bookstore.
Brass Tacks doubled our Splash attendance this year. My co-worker Mariel came with me. It was definitely interesting to hear her perspective on the sessions.
Day 1: Tuesday
My first thought is that I’m impressed by how many people are here. Far more than last year. I’m hearing that it’s a 50% increase. Many first timers.
This leads me to the conclusion that this has become a really comprehensive user community. This many people here at the conference means that there have to be even more out in the field. It feels bigger and more comprehensive.
The international presence impressed me. I met users from Abu Dhabi and Australia. I got the chance to discuss my old Sydney client with someone who knows them, so that was interesting.
There’s already a Splash in Europe, and I won’t be surprised to hear that they expand. Next year’s North American conference is in Toronto, which I hear is in a far off land called Canada.
Day 2: Wednesday
Today was the reveal of the new relational tool for OneStream. This is a tool that could replace Tableau or BI. Picture having your financial close, planning, operational reporting and dashboards with one tool. One that can drill back to your source system for real time reporting. Or load relational data overnight for a unified dashboard of financial and operation data. No more buying 5 tools and trying to force them to work. I thought this was a game changer for anyone on the fence about OneStream. I actually got the chance to say that to Bob Powers, CTO and co-founder of OneStream.
Day 3: Thursday
Today was the partner summit. I can’t help but notice that there are a lot more partners than last year. Time to up my game. There’s now the ability for partners to publish on the marketplace. I’ve always thought the marketplace was a great idea. One stop shopping for all your OneStream needs. I’ve got some ideas for my own additions….
Thursday night was the Party. I’m convinced that my purple, green and gold hawaiian shirt was the most authentic Mardi gras costume there. Not the best, just the most authentic. I thought the band was great, but the jazz band is more my style. Once again, it felt like a lot more people this year.
Day 4: Friday
I’m starting to drag, but great content today. Followed by another walk through old New Orleans with my co-worker Mariel.
Some closing thoughts; I’ve always thought that in this space we can’t be just financial close or planning. We need to be focused on both of these and operations as well. To truly provide the best solution for a client, we need to understand all of the aspects of the software so we can focus on all the aspects of the business. The big picture understanding is what allows us to deliver the most value. Brass Tacks remains the small and scrappy OneStream partner. It’s been a tough year, but we’ll continue to scrap.