I'm in London attending the Google product Experts summit. It is a gathering of over 600 people from around the globe who volunteer their time to provide product support for Google products. I've been in the program since Google photos was first released in 2015 and I've attended a few of these events, but this is the first one that was held outside of the US, and it is definitely the largest. Apparently it is difficult to get visas for the US, so fewer international PEs (Product Experts) are able to attend. Google picks up the tab for flying everyone here, the hotel stay, all the food, drink, and partying. The event took over the entire hotel - the Hilton London Metropole.
 |
| PES = Product Expert Summit. They met us at the airport and drove us to the hotel. |
Jim came with me and hung out during the 3 days off the event, then we're staying for the following week to explore London. We got here after an overnight flight from New Jersey. The plane landed at 6am and we were zonked. SO glad that Google arranged fort our room to be ready when we arrived rather than waiting for the l normal 3pm check in. We're went straight to bed and crashed till nearly 3.
On Monday I took the Google-provided bus tour of London, then there was the opening celebration. Food, drink, music, and performers. There were 3 party nights and each one had a theme. Monday night was a welcome to London and the performers were dressed up as beefeaters. Tuesday night was Alice in Wonderland with the red queen and her entourage strutting around and ... Off with your head!
Wednesday night they loaded us in a bus and took us to the iconic madame Tussaud's where Google had rented the whole place for our private party. Have I said OMG yet?
Then there was the actual conference Tuesday and Wednesday. Mornings were keynotes with all 600 of us in one room and afternoons were breakout sessions devoted to individual products.
Here was my schedule ... Conveniently printed on the back of my name badge, so I had it with me at all times and knew where to go.
On Tuesday afternoon, my breakout sessions were at the Google campus in London. Apparently it is one of the biggest buildings in downtown London. Right across the street from kings cross train station of Harry Potter fame. They loaded us on a bus for the 20-30 minute ride and took us to a private entrance then escorted us too or breakout rooms. We didn't get to see much of the building. There was only one breakout session on my product, Google photos, so I attended some on maps, YouTube, and Google fi as well.
Notice the headsets on the people in the audience. These are folks who don't speak English as their first language. All the presentations are in English so there are translators speaking thru the headsets. English may be the agreed-upon common language, but it was not the most common language spoken. I think Portugese was! And, then there were many more: Japanese, Bahasa Indonesia, Korean, Spanish, French, Italian ... You felt like you were in the United Nations. And, what an experience to get the flavor of what it's like to be an International company. Ok - so you have an amazing new product ... but when will it be available in Korean??
My favorite breakout session was for Google Fi Wireless. It was led by the Product manager for Google Fi and Google Voice, she was also tasked with managing the interface with Apple products. Her name was Siri! I was having trouble with Google Fi and Google Voice on my iPhone - so I was in the right place! I couldn't help myself, I had to go up to her and say, "Hey Siri, can you fix my phone?"
 |
| Siri and Chris |
All the presenters seemed very happy to be there and to be talking with us. I guess we are a unique audience for them. We're not customers, we're not bosses or even co-workers, but we are quite familiar with the product and we've signed non-disclosure agreements, so they don't have to be so secretive with us. We are quite expert on their products and may even make them aware of issues they don't know. I can see where we would be a desireable audience for them.
No comments:
Post a Comment