We asked our Global Events Manager, Beth Ewing, to interview John Sperling, SVP of Product Management at Aras, about his top three reasons to attend ACE 2023. As you will see, John had a lot more than three reasons you should consider attending!
Beth Ewing: John, from your perspective, what are three reasons people should attend ACE 2023?
John Sperling: If anyone is unaware, ACE stands for Aras Community Event. The three reasons to attend ACE are to meet with Aras, network with others in the Community, and attend an in-person event for perhaps the first time in a while. But maybe you were looking for something more insightful.
BE: Thank you, Captain Obvious. What else?
JS: Three is kind of limiting. Does it have to be three? I can think of more.
BE: Sure… <exasperated> Could you please just tell the nice people why they should come to ACE?
JS: OK, well, if you really think three is important <eyeroll>, here are a few sets of three that come to mind.
ACE gives you three main venues to explore:
- Main Stage – keynote presentations from Aras, Customers, Partners, and industry analysts
- Breakout sessions – multiple tracks, including a product track, various industry tracks, and a demo room
- Partner exhibits – learn about the various partner offerings in the Aras ecosystem, and collect some fun swag
On that Main Stage, you will see three presentations from Aras:
- Roque Martin – Our CEO will be giving an update on the Aras community
- Yours truly – I will be explaining what we’ve delivered in the Aras product over the past year and what’s coming next
- Rob McAveney – Our CTO will discuss industry macro trends and their impact on global businesses and share his vision for the company
The Product track will include three strategy input sessions, where you can voice your input on some important product topics:
- Enterprise SaaS – Discuss your key requirements with our Product Managers to drive our SaaS strategy forward.
- Medical Device Industry Solution – With the recent acquisition of Minerva, how does this offering move forward as part of Aras?
- APEX – Give your input on how our Agile Product Exploration effort can help to drive better solutions for our subscribers
There will be three days of training sessions on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. One of these sessions will be on our three-D Visualization capability, a new addition to our training curriculum!
One of my favorite parts of ACE is the “Day in the Life” presentations, where you will see real-life examples of how companies gain a competitive edge using Aras Innovator, shown live by our first-class pre-sales team. There will be two of these sessions, but so much good stuff will happen that it will seem like three.
Three square meals - Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner
Three receptions - Welcome Reception / Community Reception / Closing Reception
BE: OK, we get it—lots of threes. Could you comment on what ACE is like for someone who’s never experienced it?
JS: Sure. Like many of you, I have attended countless company and industry conferences over the years, and I have the swag to prove it. While, superficially, ACE may seem like this type of conference, it’s really not. What makes it different is the nature of the Aras Community. You will find open dialog at ACE that you won’t experience at other conferences. Aras employees will be straight with you – we want you to be successful. You will notice that our subscribers are generally very happy with us and glad to tell their stories. You will find a rich partner network that supplements our configurable, scalable, upgradeable platform in many ways. I have had many first-time attendees tell me that they are honestly shocked at the positive nature of the conference. The term “love fest” has been used from time to time. If you’re already an Aras subscriber or kicking the tires looking for PLM transformation, you won't regret attending. ACE is the place!
BE: Thank you, John.
To register for ACE 2023 right now, visit our event page. We look forward to seeing you there!