------------------------------
Jessica Falkenthal
Community Manager, TechXchange
IBM
San Francisco CA
------------------------------

Honestly, as it happens, my favourite part of TechXchange 2025 in Orlando was taking part in the Feedback roundtable activity on Sunday!

Community is such an important topic to me, so I was glad to have the opportunity to discuss this with yourself Jessica, but also with Medha Parekh, Amelia Aroda and Laura Richardson, who I am very grateful to have had the opportunity to network with 😊

It was really gratifying to have been informed of roadmap updates surrounding User/Topic Groups and in-development apps, as well as providing feedback for further improvements (including website UX) 🤝

It's hard to pick just one favorite, being there, meeting you, all the community members, the Champions, and the experts from so many different areas was truly inspiring!
From the incredible sessions (impossible to choose just one!) to the Sandbox, Tech Talks, Labs, and Space Invaders - everything was top-notch.
And of course, Universal Studios and the Champions 2025 party? Pure fun and unforgettable memories!

The TechXchange team set the bar sky-high, and I can't wait to see what surprises 2026 has in store. 
Thank you to the entire TechXchange team and the amazing community for making it such an unforgettable experience! 💙

ps. attendees of my session mentioned in their reviews that the screen was a bit small. And honestly, I felt the same in a few other sessions too. Maybe a little bigger screens next year would make those great sessions even better. 

------------------------------
Emily Seale
Community Manager
IBM
------------------------------

TechXchange 2025 was such a solid event. I really enjoyed seeing how much cross-team collaboration and AI innovation was highlighted this year - especially the live demos showing real-world use of hybrid cloud setups. The breakout sessions on automation and security had great energy too.

For 2026, I'd love to see even more hands-on labs and interactive sessions instead of long talks, maybe a bit more time for networking between the tech deep dives. The format works really well when people can actually play around with the tools while the experts are there.

TechXchange 2025 was a fantastic experience. A few personal highlights:

• The atmosphere - open, welcoming, and energizing. It really felt like a community.
• The AI & Maximo sandbox - great energy, hands-on demos, and lots of inspiring conversations.
• The technical depth in sessions - especially around automation scripts, MAF, and AIP - was spot on.

For 2026, I'd love to see more hands-on labs specifically around Maximo Application Suite. Not just quick intros, but guided end-to-end use cases - for example:
• Building a Health score model with your own data
• Creating a custom MAF app from scratch
• Real-world walkthroughs of AIP scenarios

That type of deep-dive learning would really help bridge the gap between product features and implementation.

Thanks to everyone who made this event what it was - see you next year!

It is hard to single out one favorite part. The conference was well-organized, there was careful planning involved. The Sandbox looked amazing (BIG), with lots of space for networking/fun/relaxation.

I absolutely loved the attention the organizing teams have given to the IBM Champions (my first year as one). Great opening Sunday-afternoon, nice perks like getting in the Sandbox early, fast track bracelets for Universal and the party-type Champions dinner on Wednesday. You made us feel special!

The sessions and tech-breakouts I attended were also great, but a lot of sessions that used to be presented at Technical Universities (TechU) were lacking in TechXchange so far, like specific sessions on HMC, Novalink, VIOS, PowerHA and even AIX (yes, some sessions covered AIX products or things that work with AIX, but no (roadmap or otherwise) sessions on AIX itself). TechU also always had a lot of sessions (in 4,5 days) that were repeated at least once.

In a future IBM TechXchange (I hope to be back in October 2026 in Atlanta) I would like to see more roadmap (or What's New) sessions on infrastructure-technical items (like I described above) and I would like to see those repeated. Maybe having only 2 different session lengths (like 25 and 50 minutes, with time to spare to move to another room or visit the bathroom) would be easier to plan things.

To IBM and the organization committee: job well done for 2025 and keep up the good work for 2026 and beyond.

I agree with Angelo. This was an incredible event. The hands on learning opportunities provided an in-depth way of demonstrating the incredible work at IBM. The instructors were fabulous. The event really gave me a boost of energy.

I loved the way Legos were used to show the inner workings of a CPU. It was brilliant.

This was my first opportunity to go to TechXchange and I absolutely loved it. I am a Maximo trainer with my own small company so it was great to have the opportunity to be a speaker at such a large event, but I think it was even better to actually see EVERYTHING IBM has to offer these days. I was a Lotus Note trainer for multiple years prior to Maximo and it was fun to talk with people who actually remembered what Lotus Notes was!

I also took the opportunity to take one of the instructor-led classes in the lab and two certification exams!

Now that I know what all is there, I will definitely be back and with a much better plan of action. 

I feel like this years TechXchange was a lot closer to the "Tech U" of old and it was very welcomed. One thing that I really hope is improved upon somehow is the session scheduling. There were many sessions and labs that I noticed were full and waitlist full and when I got there there was availability. One of the labs I went to was full but I was able to walk right in no problem - though I could not schedule it on the app. Perhaps there is also a way for a non-repeated session to be moved to a room with larger occupancy as well so people do not miss out. 

Favorite parts/would like to see more of:

• My favorite part by far was seeing IBM focusing on Power Systems again! It is very exciting to see the roadmap and interact with the leaders in the ecosystem. One of the Power sessions went to standing room only and they had to turn people away. It was unfortunate but also exciting that there is lots of interest in Power. I would like to see more Power-focused sessions and labs next year for sure!
• I enjoyed the focus of Certifications and having it readily accessible daily and not tucked away in a dark corner of the conference. I would love to see the same next year!
• The labs were great and likewise very accessible near the Sandbox though scheduling in some cases was difficult due to them filling
• I thought the water bottle and associated sticker scavenger hunt was a brilliant idea. I really enjoyed it and found myself engaging in conversations I may not have otherwise had if I was not hunting for stickers
• I would be interested in seeing more sessions around IBM Storage and futures next year, there were not many storage sessions this year unfortunately
• I loved the AMA sessions I attended. Would love to see more of those!

Very much looking forward to TechXchange in 2026!

Hi team!, I've been able to attend the last 3 events and I've been surprised by Orlando 2025. The event was crowded, the attendance was huge but it was so perfectly organized that it never felt like a downside, all of the opposite. I was able to meet with a lot of great people, attended to amazing sessions, learnt a lot and identifyed a lot of oportunities of improving my carear at the same time of improving my customers developement. I'm looking forward to exploit what I've learnt, also looking forward for next year!.

Thank you!

It's hard to pick just one favorite part, as I enjoyed meeting up with old friends and hearing about all the new products and features coming in the future. Overall, I thought the venue was a great choice. The hotel was within easy walking distance, labs were centrally located but in a separate area all together so finding your class was VERY easy. Loved seeing all the new and OLD IBM equipment. I enjoyed the sticker scavenger hunt, however, would prefer not to have to ask for stickers. Loved the Mario Kart on the big screen, but unfortunately didn't get a chance to play myself. Can't wait for TX26