Bonum Certa Men Certa

“Registrations for BrainShare have Been Very Low to This Point”

The love that used to be

Brainy people



Brainwash, also known as marketing, annually comes from BrainShare, whose cancellation is a big blow to Novell. Apple knows the feeling.

So, BrainShare is over. We wrote about this some days ago, but here are some more important details.

Kim Groneman, an administrator of the Novell Forums, writing to break the news on the BrainShare forum to prospective attendees (making it very clear that he is not an official spokesman, but simply a Novell employee and an interested party) observed that “registrations for BrainShare have been very low to this point.”


IDG cites Novell's poor financial performance.

The tough economy hasn't helped Novell's financial numbers of late either. The company continues to lose money, reporting earlier this month a $16 million loss for its fourth fiscal quarter on roughly flat revenue. For the fiscal year, ended Oct. 31, Novell lost about $18 million on revenue of just under $1 billion. Making apples-to-apples comparisons of Novell financial results quarter to quarter has become next to impossible given a variety of "impairment charges" and other clarifications included in its reports.


SJVN covered this in IDG as well.

Here is a copy of the official letter which contains spin (it did, after all, come from a marketing chief).

In an open email to Novell's customers and partners, the company has canceled the event originally slated for March of next year, namely what would have been the 20th annual BrainShare conference.


From the local press:

Novell Inc. said Wednesday it has canceled its 2009 BrainShare, the annual conference that this year drew 5,500 to the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City.

The Waltham, Mass.- based company, whose largest operation is in Provo with about 1,200 employees, said many of its customers were saying economic conditions would keep them from traveling to Utah in March of next year.


This was also covered by some big(ger) press outlets like Fox Utah and Desert News

Novell is considering delivering conference materials online or conducting smaller, more-regional events "that will allow us to get face time with folks but would be more locally based so that, again, we'd get around some of the travel restrictions that our customers and partners have," Bruce said.

[...]

The Massachusetts-based company, with about 1,200 of its 4,000 employees in Provo, develops enterprise infrastructure software for companies.


Additionally, this is covered in:

Linux Journal: Novell Boxes Up Twenty Years of BrainShare

For the past twenty years, one of the jewels of the Novell calendar has been the annual BrainShare conference. Highlights have included, among many others, 2004's surprise appearance by Linux-creator Linus Torvalds — reportedly also attended by SCO arch-villan Darl McBride — and the 2008 revelation that Big Bird was switching to SUSE. It seems those memories are all that will remain of the conference, however, as Novell announced this morning that the conference has been canceled.


The Register: Novell ditches 2009's recession-bitten BrainShare tradeshow

Instead it was at pains to point out that partners and customers can still get their mitts on training and so-called “enablement offerings” through online classes, virtual conferences and local tours.


CNET: Novell cancels its 2009 BrainShare conference

What the FAQ doesn't state is how much Dragoon was probably pleased to free up a significant chunk of his marketing budget tied up in the annual conference. He won't state it publicly, but I'm betting that he's cheering to have so much of his marketing budget available for other activities.


ZDNet: Credit crunch claims Novell conference

Novell's BrainShare conference, which was scheduled to take place in Salt Lake City in March, has been cancelled.


Boston Globe: Novell cancels trade show

Novell Inc., the Linux software vendor in Waltham, has cancelled its annual BrainShare trade show, which was set for March 2009.

BrainShare, which has been held in Salt Lake City, Utah, for more than 20 years, generally attracts between 4,000 and 6,000 attendees from nearly 60 countries.


From Associated Press:



This is not the end of the world, however. GWAVA goes ahead with its plans and issues this press release:

GWAVA Provides Alternative to Novell BrainShare Attendees



Discount offered for Novell customers to attend GWAVACon, the independent Novell technology conference in place of BrainShare '09

GWAVA today announced a special discount for Novell customers to GWAVACon in Las Vegas Nevada, January 25th - 27th 2009. With the announcement of Novell suspending BrainShare in March of 2009, GWAVACon becomes the largest Novell technology conference in the world.


Richard Bliss of GWAVA is already pimping his own event (that he organises) in the comments section of Microsoft Jack's [1, 2, 3] blog post about the cancellation. This cancellation was also covered by Slashdot (front page), which Microsoft Jack hates so vehemently.

Richard Bliss has also pushed this promotional video into YouTube.



Ogg Theora





So Novell's events may not be vanishing; but like the company itself, they are shrinking (downsizing).

Recent Techrights' Posts

Men Who Abuse Women Should Never Spend Over 3 Years of the UK High Court's Time
This demonstrates that we need a reform in the UK
The UEFI Restricted Boot 'Time Bomb' is About to Go Off in a Few Weeks
Garrett was the first person to face sanctions (like muting) in our IRC channels because of his abuse; worse yet, he hijacked other people's names and then locked them out of their own accounts
 
Bailing Out GAFAM, Giving Taxpayers' Money to Failing Companies, and Trying to Outlaw Lawsuits Against Them
What would the late Lincoln have said?
Software Freedom Conservancy (SFC) Inc. Lost 2 Million Dollars Last Year and Its Chief Took a Salary Increase of Almost $6,000
Another year or two like this... and the SFC will be bankrupt [...] Hallmark of mismanagement
The "New Techrights" Turns Two Very Soon
Accomplishing something each year is what's important, not merely "finishing" another year
Gulf Nations Leave Microsoft Behind
How much lower will Microsoft stoop in an effort to raise money from oil-rich lenders?
How to Combat IRC Trolls (in Our Experience)
Today I want to share my experience (or knowledge) of how to deal with IRC trolls
The Register MS Needs to Stop Participating in the "Hey Hi" (AI) Hype, But It Gets Paid to Participate in This Hype
the publisher (The Register MS) wants to have it both ways
Gemini Links 24/08/2025: Living With Your Parents, Zürich Zoo, and Macondo
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, August 24, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, August 24, 2025
Gemini Links 24/08/2025: Signal on OpenBSD and Keyboard Layouts Compared
Links for the day
Links 24/08/2025: Microsoft Settles Data Breach Lawsuits and Climate Change Causes Heatwaves, Water Shortages
Links for the day
CachyOS is Rising Fast, But Slopfarms Are 'Googlebombing' It
CachyOS receives more media attention
No Reason for Red Hat Relief Yet (Layoff Rumours)
the execution could be stalled, delayed, or scheduled for some time after people come back from holiday
GNU/Linux 6%, Windows 60% in Venezuela, Suggests statCounter
The cash cows are dying
Mass Layoffs Continue at Microsoft This Month (Remaining Workers See Conditions That Deteriorate)
So far this month (one week remaining) we saw at least two waves of layoffs at Microsoft
How SPAM E-mails With Windows-Centric Files Get Twisted as Linux Threats, Then Slopfarms Spread the Word
Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt/Fear-mongering/Dramatisation
Links 24/08/2025: Heatwaves Threaten Workers, Maldives Versus Press freedom
Links for the day
Gemini Links 24/08/2025: Digital Cameras and Printers
Links for the day
Links 24/08/2025: GAFAM Lie About Pollution and Slop's Carbon Footprint, The Guardian Says Slop ("Hey Hi") is a Bubble That Will Send Stock Markets Into a Freefall
Links for the day
80% of the Sponsored (Fake) Articles in The Register MS Are Promotions of Ponzi Schemes (Unethical Money), the Rest is Banned Chinese Business
Is that an ethical way to make money? No.
Should Currys PCWorld Start Voiding Warranties of Users of Vista 11?
If a person's laptop has a mechanical issue, should this person replace GNU/Linux with Vista 11 for the repair shop? Only to damage the SSD?
Newer is Not Always Better, and It's Possible That 'Peak' is the Past
People creating their own platforms means progress, whereas centralisation (like moving from blogs to social control media) is the opposite of progress
LLM Hype is Sowing Destruction: It Contributes to DDoS Attacks and Makes the Web Less Accessible (JavaScript "R U Human?" Tests)
If it was googlebot, it would be possible to argue that you'd at least then get referral traffic from Google Search. With LLMs, all you get is plagiarised.
Links 24/08/2025: New York Times Talks About Hey Hi (AI) Bubble
Links for the day
Gemini Links 24/08/2025: Upgrading Debian and Mobile-indifferent Design
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, August 23, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, August 23, 2025
Richard Stallman's Talk in Buenos Aires Scheduled for 16 November 2025 (a Month After FSF Turns 40)
they've just updated their site and Stallman is listed first
Nobody is "Replaced by AI", It's Just a Smokescreen for Jobs Being Eliminated by Lack of Money (Too Much Debt) and Offshoring
It's also why many make the jokes about the "I" in "AI" being "India" or "Indians"
Slopwatch: Linux Journal, WebProNews, LinuxSecurity, and the Serial Slopper
The bubble needs to burst, but even then the Web will be left with residues of these slopfarms
Links 23/08/2025: Science, War, and Important Win for the British Media Against SLAPPers Who Abuse Women
Links for the day
Gemini Links 23/08/2025: BaseLibre Numerical System and Back to Oldschool
Links for the day
"Deserved Victory" for "Women That Suffered"
"GNM defended its reporting as being both true and in the public interest and in a judgment on Friday"
The US Government is Now in the Business (Literally!) of Saving Microsoft and Intel
This means that President TACO/Cheeto now has greater financial incentive to also prop up Microsoft and Windows
Links 23/08/2025: onmicrosoft.com as Spam Cannon, The Cheeto-Intel Deal Is Official
Links for the day
Wired Complained About LLM Slop Only Days Before It Got Caught Doing That Itself
Never throw stones in a glass house
IBM "Value" Down 14.16% in a Month, Red Hat Layoffs Allegedly Discussed 12 Days Ago
"IBM is a dinosaur. Dinosaurs get extinct when the don't keep up."
We're Seeing More Countries Where Windows Isn't Even in Second Place Anymore (Third or Worse)
In a way, Microsoft can barely even hold onto second place anymore
Microsoft Workers on Canonical's Payroll
If you want something that's sort of like Ubuntu but is not controlled by Canonical, then look into Linux Mint, Debian, or LMDE
GNU/Linux Climbs to 4% in Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone isn't a very rich country (to say the least), but it's better off than some of its neighbours
The SLAPPS Run Out of Oxygen Because They're Abuse of Process
At the end of the day we plan to publish over 1,000 articles explaining what happened
The Register MS Gets Paid by the Employer of the Previous Editor in Chief to Promote the "AI" Ponzi Scheme, Which Does Considerable Damage to the Web and to Online Journalists
The Register MS can 'badmouth' slop all it wants; it gets paid to inflate this bubble. It's actively participating in it.
Soon It'll be Autumn, Time to Repair Things
Where they don't charge an arm and a leg
Doing Our Best to Cover Software Patents When the Mainstream Media Does Not
Even the FSF has its limits
Gemini Links 23/08/2025: August Questions and Network Solutions
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, August 22, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, August 22, 2025