The Top 10 Reasons to Attend GraphConnect 2018 in New York City

Once again, GraphConnect makes its way back to the vibrant island of Manhattan this autumn! Whether you’re new to the world of graph database technology or you’ve been a part of the movement for some time, there’s something new for everybody at this year’s event.

Here are just a few of the best reasons why you should attend GraphConnect 2018 in NYC on September 20 and 21:

10. The Location

This year, GraphConnect 2018 takes place at the Marriott Marquis in Times Square:

• GraphConnect sessions, Training and Workshops will all conveniently take place in one spot, which means maximizing your time to extract the most value out of this year’s experience.
• Getting the most out of your experience also means stepping out of the hotel and into the bright lights and long avenues of Gotham City. Get a hug from your favorite cartoon character, stay up for the Midnight Moment, go on a hunt for the original Ray’s pizza slice (hint: it’s not in Times Square), or simply stand there and let the digital glow of rampant consumerism envelope you. It’s quite a thing.
• Ready to a sip a cocktail overlooking the bustle of Time Square? Head on over to the St. Cloud rooftop bar at the Knickerbocker Hotel. If you’re wanting a more old-world New Yorker place to grab a drink with your group, we suggest visiting Jimmy’s Corner. This narrow Times Square “dive” bar features Sinatra and the Delfonics on the jukebox and boxing memorabilia covering the walls.

Come early or stay late, because there’s so much to enjoy throughout the whole city!

9. In-Person Access to Neo4j Engineers

Get the full graph database experience by meeting the makers of the world’s #1 platform for connected data!

At GraphConnect 2018, you’ll get to spend time with the engineers who help put Neo4j into production and make our customers successful in their graph database endeavors. With this personal access, you’re encouraged to network, idea swap and ask any quick questions or advanced technical quandaries you may have.

Plenty of Neo4j experts will also be in the DevZone GraphClinic to help get your graph database off the ground and going full speed ahead.

8. The DevZone

Back by popular demand is our DevZone, a place for developers to chat with the speakers, lounge on couches, play Graph Karaoke, get Neo4j Certified and grab a snack.

Stop by to connect with other developers, learn something new and have fun!

7. More Trainings Than Ever Before

The second day of GraphConnect – Friday, September 21 – is devoted to instructor-led classroom training. Each half-day session, lead by top Neo4j engineers, trainers and partners, allows for substantial immersion on the given topic.

Workshops this year include a graph modeling introduction, Cypher tuning and performance, data science and machine learning, extensions for analytics and operations, full-stack development, graph algorithms and lots of other enlightening graph-related subject matter.

Feed your head with lots of graph technology goodies!

6. The GraphHack

This year, we’re doing the GraphHack – our graph database hackathon – on Saturday, September 22 to close out the conference. This year’s hackathon is organized around the theme of “Buzzword Bingo” to highlight a number of useful Neo4j integrations with other popular technologies.

Developers divide into teams to build cool new applications using Neo4j and other technologies listed on their Bingo card. Each team must make a Bingo (four in a row vertically, horizontally or diagonally) for a valid hackathon submission.

With a chance to win some great prizes (BB8 Droid, anyone?) you don’t want to miss this fun and innovative event.

5. The Amazing Speaker Lineup

GraphConnect attracts the top speakers and innovators in the graph technology ecosystem. This year is no exception.

This year’s speaker highlights include:

• David Fox, Adobe
• Ann Grubbs, Lockheed Martin Space Systems
• Dr. Peng Sun, CA Technologies
• Seth Dimick, Nordstrom
• Gary Stewart, ING
• Tatiana Romina Hartinger, Cognitiva
• Alexander Jarasch, The German Center for Diabetes Research
• Bajal Mohiyudeen, AT&T

Of course, there are many more brilliant speakers to fill the day, and you’ll find the full list of of speakers at the “Speakers” section on GraphConnect.com.

4. The Takeaways

No matter what role you have, you are sure to take away ideas from the event to apply to your job and make a difference at your company or for your customers.

Through the power of connected data, some attendees learn how to streamline processes while others see a new way to approach a business problem. You’ll definitely leave with a snapshot of where the future capabilities of graph technology are headed.

And while we can’t say exactly what might be introduced on the keynote stage this year, rest assured the latest updates to graph technology will improve your understanding of how to best connect your data.

3. The Content

With so many amazing submissions for this year’s Call for Papers, we had a really difficult time choosing the sessions. For you, that means amazing, high-quality presentations all around!

This year we have six tracks spanning a variety of technologies, industries and use cases. Key topics include graph database evolutions in AI and machine learning, discovery and visualization, biotech and healthcare, knowledge graphs and digital transformation.

2. The disConnect Party

On Thursday, September 20, you’ll spend the day watching both CEO Emil Eifrem and Chief Scientist Jim Webber talk about the future of Neo4j and graphs, attending a dozen sessions and lightning talks, getting help with your data modeling in the GraphClinic, and perhaps doing some Graph Karaoke.

Afterwards, you’ll likely be ready to decompress and socialize with fellow engineers and business execs.

The post-conference disConnect party lets you mingle with your new connections — all while making plans on how you’ll change the world with the power of graph database technology.

Plus, there will be free drinks and snacks. Need I say more?

1. The Relationships

Graph technology is powerful because it leverages data relationships. GraphConnect is powerful because it builds your person-to-person relationships.

After all, trainings, presentations and announcements can all be experienced elsewhere or even remotely, but in-person networking and relationship building with fellow graphistas can’t happen anywhere else but GraphConnect.

You’ll find it difficult to be an orphan node at GraphConnect 2018. That’s because everyone in attendance already understands the inherent value of relationships over individual data points.