When it comes to booking analyst meetings at company events, organization is key. There’s a lot to keep track of: ever-changing executive schedules, analyst schedules, meeting locations, prep materials and so on. Avoiding scheduling conflicts — while delivering a streamlined, efficient experience to all the parties you’re coordinating with — is part of professionalism and contributes to event success.

These activities are especially important at large-scale events, such as Oracle CloudWorld, a global event this October drawing tens of thousands of attendees and featuring 1,200+ sessions. Jeff Williams, director of digital transformation, analyst relations, Oracle, and Kaitlyn Nguyen, digital transformation marketing specialist, analyst relations, Oracle, know all about organizing analyst activities there firsthand.

They’ll be sharing their tips, best practices and experiences — evaluating, post-event, what worked well — at our User Forum in Burlingame, California (also held virtually) on Nov. 10. Jeff and Kaitlyn are users of our ARchitect analyst relations (AR) productivity software, as well as the Analyst Event Manager add-on, and apply technology to expedite and simplify AR activities.

We were thrilled to catch up with Jeff and Kaitlyn recently to discuss all this and more. Read on for a preview of their User Forum presentation and to learn about Oracle’s AR mission, priorities and key activities (and join us at User Forum for additional details):

Q: Can you please briefly describe your role as it pertains to AR?

Kaitlyn: I spearhead user experience (UX) research efforts for Oracle’s analyst relations digital team and assist in operational duties including issue management, employee onboarding, reporting and registration provisioning/tracking for AR systems.

Jeff: With a background in design thinking, UX design leadership and IT, I bring a user-centered problem-solving and innovation approach to Oracle analyst relations. Because I have technical oversight of AR’s business and operations, I help manifest a vision of digital transformation that truly sets Oracle apart in the eyes and hearts of industry analysts.

Q: What is the mission of your AR team? 

Kaitlyn and Jeff: The mission is to influence analyst perception and drive Oracle’s direction. This means we aim to:

  • Build relationships with influential analysts, execute meaningful engagements and help analysts understand the value of Oracle’s products. 
  • Engage strategically with product development to provide insight to inform Oracle’s product strategy and roadmap.
  • Lead in the implementation and execution of digital AR practices.
  • Validate success through a defined measurement framework.

Q: What AR challenges does your organization face?

Kaitlyn and Jeff: A key challenge is effectively expanding our reach and influence in a low-touch way to analysts that exist outside of our team’s direct relationships.

Q: How do you use people, process and technology to solve this?

Kaitlyn and Jeff: ARchitect allows us to have an overview of the analyst landscape and gives us the ability to “slice and dice” our audience in ways that fit our needs. With ARchitect, we’re able to finetune our marketing strategy so that we can engage with our audience in more meaningful and intentional ways. 

Q: What is the title of your User Forum presentation? What will people learn from it?

Kaitlyn and Jeff: The title is “Running a Large AR Event Enabled by ARchitect Event Manager.” Takeaways include: how powerful of a tool ARchitect is for event management, and how highly collaborative the ARInsights team is in working with you on a solution for your needs.

Q: In three sentences or less, what’s your best piece of AR advice?

Kaitlyn and Jeff: No matter how digitally transformed the AR business becomes, ultimately, humans are still at the center of it all. It’s all about relationships and the value that comes from them. Focus on understanding what is valuable to your audience and meet those needs genuinely.

Q: What are you most looking forward to at User Forum?

Kaitlyn and Jeff: Building relationships and learning from peers.

Want to hear more from Jeff, Kaitlyn and other AR pros? Join us in-person at ARchitect User Forum on Thursday, Nov. 10, from 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. PT, at the Hyatt Regency SFO in Burlingame, California (or sign up to attend virtually if you can’t make the trip). It’s an opportunity to learn new AR strategies, listen to real-world success stories and network with other AR practitioners across the globe. We hope you’ll register and join us!

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