Citing the slumping economy and tighter travel budgets, Novell is canceling this year's BrainShare conference, the customer and channel partner event the software vendor has held for more than 20 years.
Word of the cancelation came in a note from John Dragoon, Novell's senior vice president and chief marketing officer, posted Wednesday on Novell's Web site.
The 2009 conference had been scheduled for March in Salt Lake City. A Novell spokesman said the decision applied only to the 2009 conference and not to future conferences.
"This note is to inform you that Novell will not be holding its annual BrainShare conference in Salt Lake City, Utah, that was scheduled for March 2009," Dragoon wrote in his posting. "Many of you have indicated that because of the current economic climate, you are under increasing pressure to reduce travel and other controllable expenses and are hesitant to commit to attending."
Dragoon noted that BrainShare was an important vehicle for providing customers and channel partners with information and training for Novell's technology. In his note, he said Novell would develop other ways of providing that training and information including online classes, virtual conferences and local tours. "These new approaches will allow everyone to participate in our education and training " without incurring the high cost of travel that, at least for now, is an issue for many of you."
Novell will issue a schedule for the training and enablement events and online activities in January, Dragoon said.
