Last month I was offered a chance to attend Box’s “customer” conference, BoxWorks, later this month in San Francisco. After watching the agenda grow more and more interesting, and making sure my work schedule would permit, I finally agreed to accept the offer. One not-so-minor detail, Box was the one offering to pay my way.

I’m not (that) stupid to know that this is purely from the kindness of their collective hearts. While I have used Box when I needed to collaborate on things for AIIM and other efforts, I’m not what you would consider a key client. What I am is a vocal (loud-mouthed) Content Management rabble-rouser that has said positive things about Box in the past. No strings or conditions were placed on my attendance but I know that Box wants me to talk about the conference, thus raising awareness. I’ll discuss the impact of that in more detail later in the post.

First, I have something to offer you.

Haiku Contest

What I need to share with you now is a contest that I am running on Twitter. Box asked me if I wanted to “give away” three conference registrations over Twitter. Once again, I know that they are using me to raise their profile. That said, I figured it would be a shame to deprive someone of the chance to attend.

I am going to have fun and run a Haiku contest. The rules are simple:

• Join Twitter
• Write a compliant Haiku (I’ll settle for just 17 syllables in 5-7-5 format)
• Publish it on Twitter, tagging it with both the #Boxworks hash-tag and my Twitter handle, @piewords
• Deadline is midnight, US Pacific, on Tuesday September 20, 2011

Compliant entries will be judged by me, myself, and I. The more valid the “business” reason expressed in the Haiku, the more likely they are to win. For example, talking about learning about Box will score better than talking about the party. Entries that are more poetic and true to the Haiku spirit will also score higher.

Here is an okay example for you to ponder:

Beckons west ignored

Until Geoffrey Moore proclaimed.

Fly now to the sun.

This contest is only for the registration fee, you still have to get there yourself. Once you get there, you also have to find food and a roof on your own.

Box Works Disclaimer

Now back to business. I know that Box’s backing is the reason I am attending. Now you know it. I will cover it because I am there, not because I have been asked or my registration is covered. The depth of my coverage will depend on how much I feel is worth sharing. What I say is purely up to what I see. As EMC will attest, I speak my mind when I see something I don’t like.

At the bottom of every post directly related to the conference, I will include the following disclaimer to cover both accuracy and the FTC  regulations about disclosing items received. I don’t know what level of coverage I’ll be providing, so this is a broad disclaimer. I may trim it down, depending on the post.

All information in this post was gathered from the presenters and presentation. It does not reflect my opinion unless clearly indicated (Italics in parenthesis). Any errors are most likely from my misunderstanding a statement or imperfectly recording the information. Updates to correct information are reflected in red, but will not be otherwise indicated.

All statements about the future of Box products and strategy are subject to change at any time due to a large variety of factors.

Box paid for my trip to Box Works. Nothing was asked in return and I have not written anything not directly attributed to another authority that is not my honest opinion.

I don’t expect to be taking notes during sessions which would negate the first paragraph. The rest will likely be in every post.

One last note, if you are going, I’ll see you there!