Knowledge 25 - Majorly useful or a Vegas jolly?

[PaulTaylorIOSP]

Contemplating signing up for Knowledge 25 in May.

Obviously, there is a cost for entry as well as the cost to get there, stop there and eat there...While the timetable looks very good, there will be questions from the DofIT about the value it will create.

As its n Vegas, the natural suspicion will be its an expensive jolly, but since I have no interest in slot machines, I want to make sure any trip out there would be useful.

Has anyone been to previous ones, if so how did you find them and would you go again.

[Graham Roy]

Hi Paul, I would say it depends on your role and what you hope to get from it. I think you need to have a "plan" in mind, a purpose for going. I've only been once, as a customer, in 2023. I chose not to attend 2024 or 2025 as, personally, I didn't feel I could justify the cost of the trip from the UK based on my 2023 experience. FYI, I am an Enterprise Architect and we had recently deployed ServiceNow in my company.

On the plus side:

• A number of colleagues from different parts of the world were going so it was a chance to meet them
• We set up a number of meetings with existing partners, getting face to face is always a good thing
• I was amazed at the scale of the event, it is HUGE, and certainly gives a different perspective as to the size of the company and user base
• Lots of customer-led sessions, giving insight into real-world use cases, not marketing-ware from ServiceNow! 
• You are amongst thousands of like-minded people, all with a common interest
• Lots of opportunity to get in front of ServiceNow people on the exhibition floor
• Lots of 3rd party vendors marketing their SN related products

On the down side:

• It is SUPER busy. Even now, if you haven't already booked a spot at the more popular sessions you may well find that they are all full. I know there were a number of sessions I wanted to attend, but couldn't get in to. I had to catch up via recording, but then I may as well have been at home and done that!
• Planning can be difficult if you are on your own - with a few of us going we coordinated who would try and go to what as there was often conflict on parallel sessions/tracks

I really enjoyed the trip/experience and glad I went, but as I said above, given the total cost for me from the UK, I don't feel that I can justify this again. Perhaps my opinion will change in the future.

[Rob Bushrod]

Hi Paul,

This will be my third year attending in Vegas having been to the last 2 and my fourth Knowledge having also attend the one in the Hague the first year back after Covid. I have found all useful for different reasons. Firstly the previous 2 years there has been a 2 day pre-conference event called NowLearning which has enabled me to become a Certified App Developer and take the ITSM Implementer course (exam still to take). This year that has been reduced to 1 day and in a different format so I won't be attending. However if certifications is something you are looking for I would recommend still as it looks like they give you an exam voucher and you can attend a days worth of sessions on various topics rather than one big course over 2 days. These courses were pretty much my main driver for going as the cost to do them in person over 3 days in the UK was more or less the same cost as doing the 2 days and Knowledge entrance (I'd like to think this helped by business case).

Last year I got a lot more out of the overall conference as I put myself out there a bit more and spoke to more people, helped by having joined a UK Whatsapp community so breaking the ice was a lot easier for me as it's not something I'm particularly comfortable in doing. This has made me want to go back again this year to hopefully see and catch up with some of those people again. I also spend a lot of my time going to the labs and hands on sessions so that I learn more about the platform and it's capabilities.

[satyendrakgupta]

Hey Paul,

First off, congrats and best wishes for your first trip to Knowledge25! You're in for an amazing experience.

I attended last year, and it was nothing short of incredible. Knowledge is a given, but meeting old colleagues was a real highlight. You’ll discover so much—not just about ServiceNow but about yourself too. The sheer scale of the event is mind-blowing, the swag is always a nice bonus (maybe grab some for your colleagues too if you can!). And of course, it’s Vegas “what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas” so don't keep yourself out of " expensive jolly".

Now, about the prep—my company sponsored me last year, and we booked a package deal that included hotel stay at the event venues itself . Best decision ever! Everything was happening in the same place, which made it super convenient.

If you’re planning to attend sessions and meetings back-to-back, you won’t have much time for lunch outside, but the food at the event was surprisingly decent. Dinners, however, are on you, but nothing feels overpriced.

A few tips:

• Grab your passes as soon as they open—it’ll help you get better seats for keynotes.
• ServiceNow offers pre-booking for keynotes, sessions, and breakout discussions. Plan ahead and book the ones that interest you (as soon as they open) they’re super informative.
• The expo booths are great for insights, but don’t expect mind-blowing answers. Still, you’ll get a sense of just how much ServiceNow has to offer (and how little we actually use!).

Quick travel story, I had to stop by my office in the US before heading to Vegas. I landed at 2:30 AM on the first day of the conference, only to find out that hotel was overbooked. Initially, they wanted to move us to another hotel with transportation, which we refused. In the end, they upgraded us to a Presidential Suite at no extra cost & a gift voucher for spend inside The Venetian.

My advice? Go with an open mind, Enjoy, Learn, and Eat. You’re going to love it!

Cheers,

[Tamara11]

That was my hope, that it would be more than an expensive jolly, but it doesn't seem to be turning out that way. 

There were lots of sessions, actual learning sessions, advertised and I've checked every day since I paid for my Knowledge 2025 and for the additional ServiceNow University occurring the day before.

Now I've incurred the cost for airfare, lodging, and knowledge (including $695 for ServiceNow University) and the only sessions that were available literally the moment I received the email notification that enrollment was open, (after checking just the evening before and still finding no dates listed on sessions at that time), are the 'hear how some company used some module that your employer isn't using to do some thing your employer doesn't need you to do' which aren't particularly helpful. My employer won't reimburse me for lodging without a meaningful agenda, which I can't provide since there are no meaningful sessions available to me.

It's not useful in my particular situation and not why I wanted to attend.  I thought I was going to be able to attend the advertised hands on sessions but those were all booked up before I was even shown what time they were scheduled.

I think if you work for a company that is using multiple SN applications or who is willing to buy more and expand their SN offerings, are an employee of ServiceNow or hope to be, or are a free-lance/contract who wants to network, then it might be a good value.

If you work for a company that wants you to go to gain knowledge on the applications that you're using or intend to use, unless they intend to open up more hands on learning sessions, it may not be a great value.

I guess I'll just be happy that I get to soak up what I'm sure will be a wealth of knowledge from Conan O'Brien's vast ServiceNow building experience.

Disappointed.