Teradata 2014 PARTNERS Conference expects to draw data-driven professionals

Teradata Corp., an analytic data platforms, marketing applications and services company, is expanding the Teradata 2014 PARTNERS Conference and Expo set for October 19-23 at the Gaylord Opryland Convention Center in Nashville, TN.

The PARTNERS conference is the largest gathering of its kind in North America. The scope of the event is expanding in 2014 to include data professionals in every role. More than 200 sessions will feature trend-setting practices in delivering business value through Big Data analytics, marketing applications, and data science.

Teradata will also make news during the event by announcing new products, showcasing insights and webcasting continuously from a virtual news desk.

“Our annual forum is expanding its outreach beyond IT — to become the global category-leading conference for the world’s data-driven professionals,” said Alan Chow, the conference chair and tech innovator who developed the original Teradata database file system and leader of Teradata Cloud Platform Operations. “It’s a valuable experience, dedicated to sharing very cool and useful insight for IT, of course, but also for analysts, marketers, executives, data scientists and even students. The event attracts a fast-growing network of data-driven illuminati; a smart society of pragmatic visionaries, thought leaders, informed data activists, futurists and freethinking Teradata radicals in search of more business bang for the byte.”

The Teradata conference mission, Chow said, is to discover and communicate how the power of data can be applied to business, improve lives, and advance global society as a whole. One of the hallmarks of the PARTNERS conference is the customer presentations. This year’s line-up includes data professionals from global organizations including eBay, Netflix, AT&T, the American Cancer Society, RBC, Lloyd’s Banking Group, DELTA Airlines, Sirius XM Radio and more of the biggest global names in retail, telecommunications, entertainment, finance, healthcare and manufacturing.

The Monday keynote is Dr. Peter Diamandis, Chairman and CEO of XPRIZE, and co-founder of the Singularity University along with Dr. Ray Kurzweil. Diamandis will cover the rapid growth of key exponential technologies that empower individuals and companies, including artificial intelligence, robotics, biotechnology, synthetic biology, embedded networks, nanotechnology, materials and human machine interfaces.

Wednesday’s keynote is Herman Edwards, ESPN Sports Analyst and former NFL Coach, one of the most informed analysts on television today. Edwards co-authored the book You Play to Win the Game: Leadership Lessons for Success On and Off the Field.

“I’ve been a participant at Teradata conferences for years, and this is definitely not for technologists only — it’s about smart people using smart technology to create tangible business value,” said Kathy Koontz with Nationwide Insurance, who is the 2014 PARTNERS Steering Committee President and a featured speaker on Monday. “It’s a four-year course in big data analytics packed into five exciting days. And you meet so many truly brilliant and engaging people.”