SAP TechEd: More than (k)one conference

The conference in Bangalore will also take place as a virtual event - with "Follow the Sun Availability". Access to virtual workshops and sessions will then be available to interested parties around the clock. In pandemic times, we have all learned that it is possible to hold conferences, workshops and seminars as online events instead of in the conference center or seminar room. We appreciate the benefits of free time management and savings in travel time. But one thing we have also learned is that there is no substitute for direct contact, face-to-face meetings and the adrenaline rush we get from sharing moments together.

The power of the moment

It's not for nothing that marketing experts like Chip and Dan Heath talk about the "Power of Moment": "Our lives are measured in moments, and the decisive moments are the ones that stay in our memories." Many visitors and attendees took home their own personal SAP TechEd moments that they won't soon forget. Not just the keynotes by SAP executives, such as Jürgen Müller, who last year introduced us to the SAP Business Technology Platform as the foundation for the intelligent enterprise. There is also the wide range of presentations, workshops and hands-on sessions. Where else do developers have the opportunity to deepen their knowledge of topics such as cloud computing, artificial intelligence, Internet of Things (IoT), data analytics and much more, make new friends and motivate themselves to leave the comfort zone of their own thinking and embrace something new?

Example of successful live event

In May of this year, SAP CEO Christian Klein will have experienced just how impressive, powerful and effective the "power of the moment" can be. There he sat on the stage of the Online Marketing Rockstars Festival (OMR) in Hamburg and spoke with OMR founder Philipp Westermeyer about "Leading in Times of Transformation: How SAP is Shaping a New Way of Doing Business". The company was also represented with a booth for the first time. At its 370-square-meter booth, SAP showcased innovations around the topics of Customer Experi-ence and Grow with SAP - SAP's cloud ERP offering for midsize companies.

The OMR Festival was a unique event. The organizers recorded more than 70,000 visitors, and the exhibition halls were almost bursting at the seams. An absolute visitor record - and that for an industry whose players are already used to working, learning and conferencing "online", "virtually" and "remotely" by virtue of their profession. There must be something to the magic of the moment. Apparently, there is something different about listening to Boris Becker, Serena Williams, Luisa Neubauer or Christian Klein when you are sitting with them in the same room - or in the same hall. Christian Klein himself will have felt that in Hamburg. Two days later, the SAP Annual General Meeting was held in Mannheim. For the first time after a three-year break from Corona, it was held again in the SAP Arena, in front of thousands of spectators.

The wrong signal

2023 is the year in which the WHO has declared an end to the coronary emergency. People have pent-up demand - including programmers and techies: for encounters, for proximity, for events, for experiences and contact. These elements give rise to bonds. Bonds that SAP urgently needs if it wants to achieve its goals and inspire people to embark on what many see as a not entirely unspectacular adventure of corporate transformation to the cloud.

When SAP eliminates two established and popular live conferences from its program for the first time this year, this is not just two missed opportunities for more customer proximity, more customer contact and customer enthusiasm. Above all, it sends out the wrong signal. This form of non-communication does not fit into the year 2023, does not fit in with people's need to catch up and does not fit in with the Group's communication challenges. Certainly, there are also good arguments for not communicating - costs, organizational effort, coordination problems. But one would like to hear these arguments - and whether they can convincingly justify a renunciation of magical live moments is anything but clear.