Lotusphere was an American annual

conference A conference is a meeting, often lasting a few days, which is organized on a particular subject, or to bring together people who have a common interest. Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always d ...

hosted by

Lotus Software Lotus Software (called Lotus Development Corporation before its acquisition by IBM) was an American software company based in Massachusetts; it was sold to India's HCL Technologies in 2018. Lotus is most commonly known for the Lotus 1-2-3 sprea ...

(which later became an

IBM International Business Machines Corporation (using the trademark IBM), nicknamed Big Blue, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company headquartered in Armonk, New York, and present in over 175 countries. It is ...

software brand) from 1993 to 2017. In 2013, Lotusphere was re-branded as IBM Connect. Except for the first conference, which took place in December 1993, Lotusphere was held in late January. It started with a reception party on Sunday night and continued on through the closing session on Thursday afternoon. The conference was held at the Walt Disney World

Swan Swans are birds of the genus ''Cygnus'' within the family Anatidae. The swans' closest relatives include the goose, geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form the tribe (biology) ...

and

Dolphin A dolphin is an aquatic mammal in the cetacean clade Odontoceti (toothed whale). Dolphins belong to the families Delphinidae (the oceanic dolphins), Platanistidae (the Indian river dolphins), Iniidae (the New World river dolphins), Pontopori ...

hotels. Most years it has used the additional space at Disney's

Yacht A yacht () is a sail- or marine propulsion, motor-propelled watercraft made for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, though the term generally applies to vessels with a cabin intended for overnight use. To be termed a ...

and

Beach A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from Rock (geology), rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle beach, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological s ...

Clubs. In addition to the annual conference in

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

, between 1997 and 2000 there was also an annual Lotusphere Europe conference, first in Nice (1997) and then in Berlin (1999). "Lotusphere Comes to You" (LCTY) events were for a few years held by local IBM Business Partners, where some of the information presented at conference was presented and business partners could connect with local users who were not able to attend the big event. LCTY was held in over 50 countries around the world. Since 2007, LCTY in Sofia, Bulgaria was organized b
IBS Bulgaria
with the support of IBM Bulgaria. The event covered news around

as well as sessions emphasizing on local business needs and Lotus Domino development. These events were later replaced by local LUG (Lotus User Group) events like IamLUG (later Icon US), MWLUG, ILUG, UKLUG (later Icon UK) and many others. Toward the end of 2012, IBM stopped using the Lotus brand and renamed the conference to IBM Connect. It was renamed again in 2015 to IBM ConnectED, but changed back to IBM Connect in 2016. The venue changed from the Disney Swan and Dolphin to the Hilton in Orlando. In 2017 the conference was moved to the Moscone Centre in San Francisco, and the date of the conference moved to the third week of February. In 2018, IBM Connect, along with several other IBM conferences, was merged into the IBM Think conference.

Agenda

The typical agenda started with an opening general session on Monday, followed by breakout sessions through the rest of the morning and afternoon where different presentations occur simultaneously in different conference rooms, allowing attendees to choose which one they want to go to. Each breakout session was typically an hour long, with pauses in the schedule to allow attendees to mingle and walk to their next choice of breakout session. Tuesday and Wednesday also had six or seven of these breakout sessions throughout the day. Originally, Thursday was the last day of the conference, with a few breakout sessions in the morning, then a large "Ask the Developers" session where attendees are allowed to ask questions directly to a panel of IBM/Lotus employees involved in making the software. The last event of the conference is a closing session. Starting in 2014 the conference was shortened one day, ending on Wednesday instead. The opening and closing sessions typically had a form of entertainment and a guest speaker, as well as executives and key employees sharing news and demonstrations of what was planned for the near future.

Breakout Sessions

In 2008, there were 197 different presentations scheduled during the breakout sessions, scheduled across 18 slots, giving attendees an average of eleven choices per session slot. Each breakout session lasted about an hour. Breakouts were split into several categories called "tracks". Common tracks were: ; 1) Futures and Innovations : Glimpses of technologies and innovations coming out of IBM and Lotus Research Labs. ; 2) Application Development : Presentations on custom application development, ranging from paper prototyping to application development techniques specific to Lotus software products. ; 3) Planning and Managing Your Collaboration Infrastructure : Information for administrators and decision makers on architecture, features and capabilities, deployment, and system management. ; 4) Best Practices : Tips and tricks for developers, administrators, usually technical and tactical. In addition to these four tracks, there was sometimes a fifth track with a title and content around "Customer References" or "Sponsor Sessions". There were also "Hands-on" and "JumpStart" sessions. ; Hands-on : These were hands-on classes lasting 1¾ hours, taking place in rooms set up in a classroom style with tables and computers. Attendance was limited such that there are one to two attendees per computer. ; JumpStart : JumpStart sessions were offered during the day on Sunday, usually lasting about 1½ hours, giving an in-depth presentation on a topic.

History and statistics

Lotusphere Lore
C.U.L.T. 2008 Lotusphere Wiki {, class="wikitable" , - ! Year ! Location ! Attendance ! Theme phrase ! Top messages ! Host ! Opening General Session guest(s) ! Closing General Session guest(s) ! Sunday night reception ! Wednesday night party ! CULT shirt , - , 1993 , Orlando, Florida, U.S. , 2300 , Working Together , , Don Bulens , Geoffrey Moore , , , Disney-MGM , , - , 1994 , No Event , , , , , , , , , , - , 1995 , Orlando, Florida, U.S. , , The Right Event. The Right Solutions. Right Now. , , , , , , Disney-MGM , , - , 1996 , Orlando, Florida, U.S. , , Release The Power , * Notes R4 * Work the Web , , None ,

Cirque du Soleil Cirque du Soleil (, ; ) is a Canadian entertainment company and the largest contemporary circus producer in the world. Located in the inner-city area of Saint-Michel, Montreal, Saint-Michel, Montreal, it was founded in Baie-Saint-Paul on 16 Jun ...

, , *

Universal Studios Florida Universal Studios Florida is a theme park located in Orlando, Florida, that opened on June 7, 1990. Owned and operated by NBCUniversal, it features numerous rides, attractions, and live shows that are primarily themed to movies, television, and ...

* The Neville Brothers , , - , 1997 , Orlando, Florida, U.S. , , Pool of Knowledge , * Don't compete with, embrace the Web. * iNotes Web Publisher * Domino , Ray Ozzie , Avery Brooks , , , *

Magic Kingdom Magic Kingdom Park is a Amusement park, theme park at the Walt Disney World, Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida. It opened on October 1, 1971, and is owned and operated by the Walt Disney Company through its Disney Experiences, Expe ...

* The Doobie Brothers , , - , 1998 , Orlando, Florida, U.S. , , Cultivate Your Senses , Notes R5 , Steve Beckhardt (?) , * Jamie Clark * Alan Hobson , Bill Nye , , * Disney-MGM *

Earth, Wind & Fire Earth, Wind & Fire (abbreviated as EW&F or EWF) is an American band formed in Chicago, Illinois in 1969. Their music spans multiple genres, including jazz, R&B, soul, funk, disco, pop, Latin and Afro-pop. They are among the best-selling ba ...

, , - , 1999 , Orlando, Florida, U.S. , , LOTUS: A Part of Every Solution , * Notes R5 *

Knowledge Management Knowledge management (KM) is the set of procedures for producing, disseminating, utilizing, and overseeing an organization's knowledge and data. It alludes to a multidisciplinary strategy that maximizes knowledge utilization to accomplish organ ...

, Jeff Papows , *

Jim Lovell James Arthur Lovell Jr. ( ; born March 25, 1928) is an American retired astronaut, naval aviator, test pilot and mechanical engineer. In 1968, as command module pilot of Apollo 8, he became, with Frank Borman and William Anders, one of the fi ...

* Gene Krantz , Marc Salem , , * SeaWorld * The Pointer Sisters , , - , 2000 , Orlando, Florida, U.S. , 10000 , Looking Forward/Forward Looking , * Raven * Domino Access for Microsoft Outlook , Jeff Papows > Al Zollar ,

Walter Cronkite Walter Leland Cronkite Jr. (November 4, 1916 – July 17, 2009) was an American broadcast journalist who served as anchorman for the ''CBS Evening News'' from 1962 to 1981. During the 1960s and 1970s, he was often cited as "the most trust ...

, The Raspyni Brothers , , * Universal's Islands of Adventure *

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, Notes World Order , - , 2001 , Orlando, Florida, U.S. , 10000 , In The Know , * Lotus K-Station * Lotus Discovery Server , Al Zollar , * Senator

Al Franken Alan Stuart Franken (born May 21, 1951) is an American politician, comedian, and actor who served from 2009 to 2018 as a United States senator from Minnesota. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he worked as an ...

Francis Ford Coppola Francis Ford Coppola ( ; born April 7, 1939) is an American filmmaker. He is considered one of the leading figures of the New Hollywood and one of the greatest filmmakers of all time. List of awards and nominations received by Francis Ford Coppo ...

, Umbilical Brothers , , * Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex * Brian Setzer Orchestra , Domino Survivor , - , 2002 , Orlando, Florida, U.S. , 6000 , Proof Positive , * Notes/Domino 6 * "Lotus Software" brand * J2EE * "two-lane highway" , Al Zollar , Ben Stein , Kevin Nealon , , Disney-MGM , Fellowship of the Domino Ring , - , 2003 , Orlando, Florida, U.S. , , The Essential Human Element , * NextGen * DB2 , Al Zollar > Ambuj Goyal , *Former Mayor

Rudy Giuliani Rudolph William Louis Giuliani ( , ; born May 28, 1944) is an American politician and Disbarment, disbarred lawyer who served as the 107th mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001. He previously served as the United States Associate Attorney ...

* Bounce (dancers) , Dr. Ronan Tynan , ,

, Just-Us League & Collaboration League , - , 2004 , Orlando, Florida, U.S. , 5273 , The Workplace For Innovation , , Ambuj Goyal , Patrick Stewart , Richard Jeni , ,

, CULT SHIRT ON HUMAN , - , 2005 , Orlando, Florida, U.S. , 5800 , Envision Decisions , Notes and

Workplace A workplace is a location where someone works, for their employer or themselves, a place of employment. Such a place can range from a home office to a large office building or factory. For industrialized societies, the workplace is one of the ...

convergence , Ambuj Goyal , *

John Cleese John Marwood Cleese ( ; born 27 October 1939) is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, producer, and Television presenter, presenter. Emerging from the Footlights, Cambridge Footlights in the 1960s, he first achieved success at the Edinbur ...

* Ray Ozzie , Steven Wright , Country/Western , Universal's Islands of Adventure , Zen of Collaboration , - , 2006 , Orlando, Florida, U.S. , 6000 , FutureInSight , * Workplace * Activities * Sametime 7.5 , Mike Rhodin ,

Jason Alexander Jay Scott Greenspan (born September 23, 1959), known professionally as Jason Alexander, is an American actor and comedian. Over the course of his career he has received an Emmy Award and a Tony Award as well as nominations for four Golden Globe ...

, Jim Gaffigan , Poker tables , SeaWorld , CULT Man Group , - , 2007 , Orlando, Florida, U.S. , 7000 , IT Revolves Around You , * Notes/Domino 8 * Notes moving to

Eclipse An eclipse is an astronomical event which occurs when an astronomical object or spacecraft is temporarily obscured, by passing into the shadow of another body or by having another body pass between it and the viewer. This alignment of three ...

* Quickr * Connections * Save The Notes Client, Save The World , Mike Rhodin , *

Neil Armstrong Neil Alden Armstrong (August 5, 1930 – August 25, 2012) was an American astronaut and aerospace engineering, aeronautical engineer who, in 1969, became the Apollo 11#Lunar surface operations, first person to walk on the Moon. He was al ...

* Ultrasonic Rock Orchestra , Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson , , Disney's Animal Kingdom , I AM _____ , - , 2008 , Orlando, Florida, U.S. , 7000+ , Emergence , * Notes/Domino 8.01, 8.5 * Domino Designer in Eclipse * Lotus Mashups * Lotus Foundations * Lotus "Bluehouse" * Lotus Symphony , Mike Rhodin , * Bob Costas
Orlando Symphony Orchestra
, Alton Brown , Beach Party , Universal's Islands of Adventure , Pirates of Collaboration , - , 2009 , Orlando, Florida, U.S. , , Resonance , * LotusLive * Lotus Notes 8.5 for Mac * Alloy (SAP + Lotus Notes) * xPages * DAOS * ID-vault , Bob Picciano , *

Dan Aykroyd Daniel Edward Aykroyd ( ; born July 1, 1952) is a Canadian actor, comedian, screenwriter, and producer. Aykroyd was a writer and an original member of the "Not Ready for Prime Time Players" cast on the NBC sketch comedy series ''Saturday Nigh ...

Blue Man Group Blue Man Group is an American performance art company formed in New York City in 1987. It is known for its stage productions that incorporate many kinds of music and art, both popular and obscure. Its performers, known as Blue Men, have their ...

, Benjamin Zander , , Universal Studios , , - , 2010 , Orlando, Florida, U.S. , , Lotus knows why. Lotus knows how. , , Bob Picciano > Alistair Rennie , * William Shatner * Nuttin' But Stringz ,

Brian Cox (physicist) Brian Edward Cox (born 3 March 1968) is an English physicist and musician who is professor of particle physics in the School of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Manchester and the Royal Society Professor for Public Engagement in S ...

, , Hollywood Studios , , - , 2011 , Orlando, Florida, U.S. , , Get Social. Do Business. , , Alistair Rennie , *

Kevin Spacey Kevin Spacey Fowler (born July 26, 1959) is an American actor. Known for Kevin Spacey on screen and stage, his work on stage and screen, he List of awards and nominations received by Kevin Spacey, has received numerous accolades, including two ...

* Mass Ensemble , Watson , , Wizarding World of Harry Potter, Islands of Adventure , , - , 2012 , Orlando, Florida, U.S. , , Business. Made Social. , , Alistair Rennie , * Michael J. Fox *

OK Go OK Go is an American Rock music, rock band originally from Chicago, Illinois, now based in Los Angeles, California. The band is composed of Damian Kulash (lead vocals, rhythm guitar, guitar), Tim Nordwind (bass guitar, bass, backing vocalist, v ...

, Andrew Zimmern , , SeaWorld , No CULT Shirt , - , 2013 , Orlando, Florida, U.S. , , Get social. Do business. , , Alistair Rennie , * Joe Gordon-Levitt *

They Might Be Giants They Might Be Giants, often abbreviated as TMBG, is an American alternative rock and Children's music, children's band formed in 1982 by John Flansburgh and John Linnell. During TMBG's early years, Flansburgh and Linnell frequently performed as ...

, * Steven Strogatz * John Hodgman , ,

, No CULT Shirt , - , 2014 , Orlando, Florida, U.S. , , Energizing Life's work. , , Craig Hayman , * Seth Meyers * American Authors , * Dave Lavery ,
Hollywood Studios
, No CULT Shirt , - , 2015 , Orlando, Florida, U.S. , 3000 , A new way to engage , * IBM Verse * IBM Connections CR2 , Jeff Schick , *

Philippe Petit Philippe Petit (; born 13 August 1949) is a French highwire artist who gained fame for his unauthorized highwire walks between the towers of Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris in 1971 and of Sydney Harbour Bridge in 1973, as well as between the Twi ...

, * Arthur T. Benjamin , Beach party , n/a , No CULT Shirt , - , 2016 , Orlando, Florida, U.S. Hilton , 2000 , Make Every Moment Count , * Project Toscana , Jeff Schick , Jason Silva , Erik Wahl , , Universal Studios , No CULT Shirt , - , 2017 , San Francisco, CA, U.S. Moscone Center , 2000 , Redefine work with Watson , * IBM Connections Pink * IBM Watson Work Services , Inhi Cho Suh , Dr. Sheena Iyengar , Eric Whitacre , , Exploratorium , No CULT Shirt

References

External links

Spreadsheet of Lotusphere Events

Video: Lotusphere 2008 in 60 Seconds
a 68-second recap of major announcements made during the Opening General Session at Lotusphere 2008 Computer conferences