To Journey Through the SCADAVerse
On March 21st, the Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress in Orlando, Florida sprang to life with the energy of a rock concert. As the music roared, the packed Ballroom waved giant foam hands that proclaimed their excitement for VTScada software. ScadaFest 2024 had begun. Trihedral’s President, Glenn Wadden, set the tone of the conference with a keynote on Trihedral’s corporate values then to roaring crowds, wowed the room with cutting edge new VTScada features that ScadaFest attendees were the first to gain access to.
New Name, Same Focus on Excellence
This annual two-day user’s conference brought together a global community of automation professionals, developers, integrators, and end users for an extravaganza of expert seminars, hands-on workshops, and sessions by industry thought leaders like Jesse Daniels of Toyota Motor North America and Delta’s own Dave Morse. The new name, ScadaFest was chosen to better reflect the broad focus of this conference on creating excellence in the field of industrial automation.
What Made ScadaFest 2024 Unforgettable?
Direct Access to the Experts
Attendees had the opportunity to engage in one-on-one conversations with the brilliant minds behind VTScada. The Developers’ Den became a hub of innovation, where attendees could wander in to find answers to their most urgent questions. At every catered meal, Trihedral staff joined tables to help put faces to names and provide more informal ways for attendees to follow up on what they have learned.
Deep-Dive into Technical Insights
With three tracks and over 30 presentations and hands-on labs, ScadaFest catered to everyone. Attendees immersed themselves in technical workshops, exploring advanced configurations, scripting, and operational insights. As always, the event-limited stickers became prized collectibles!
Corporate Culture Experience
ScadaFest wasn’t just about software; it was about experiencing the Trihedral corporate culture. For close to four decades, this culture has earned VTScada a loyal international customer base. Attendees left with more than product knowledge—they felt the heartbeat of a company committed to excellence.
Two Unforgettable Nights of Networking
With two fully catered socials, ScadaFest fostered connections. Professionals from diverse backgrounds mingled, shared insights, and forged lasting relationships. The Wednesday evening Welcome Reception set the tone, and Thursday night networking reception at the iconic House of Blues rocked the house!
Sold-out Training Sessions
Before ScadaFest even began, the Hyatt was already filled with professionals building on their VTScada knowledge. Each year Trihedral offers three days of pre-Fest training courses. Attendees can choose from Level 1 Operation & Configuration, Level 2 Advanced Configuration, or Expert VTScada Scripting. This year set an all-time record of training attendees!
Awards Ceremony
As the action-packed event wrapped up on Friday afternoon, the air was charged with excitement. ScadaFest 2024 had achieved its mission: to empower, connect, and celebrate the VTScada community. Various prizes and sales awards were handed out. OptiRTC, Inc. was awarded the coveted VTScada Innovation Award for their work using VTScada’s REST API to pass hydraulic data into Opti’s web-based stormwater control application to maximize flood storage for City of Ormond Beach’s essential flood control infrastructure, protecting the local community from flood risk.
Looking Forward
2025 promises to be even bigger and better, if you can believe it. Returning to the stunning Portofino Bay Hotel at Universal Orlando on March 20-21, 2025, it is safe to say, it’s not one you’ll NOT want to miss. Early-Bird tickets will go on sale in late summer, so stay tuned. Sign up for all ScadaFest and VTScada notifications here: The Info You Need: Delivered to Your Inbox (vtscada.com)
Until next year, keep the innovation flowing!
Highlights:
- Welcome Reception for a Cause: Wednesday evening kicked off the festivities, setting the stage for what was to come. The crowd was entertained by world-class speed painter, Dale Henry, who created 6 one-of-a-kind art pieces that were auctioned off for Water For People, whose mission is to bring clean drinking water to everyone, everywhere.
- Trading Cards: New this year, the staff at Trihedral were turned into trading cards. The game lit fire, and everywhere you turned, you could see attendees in corners and huddled around tables trying to find, or convince a peer, to trade the exact card they needed to complete the set!
- The Food: Fueling minds with delicious meals on both Thursday and Friday. Breaks were a mix of networking and refueling.
- Conference Goodie Bags: Souvenirs to cherish including a ScadaFest jacket and Tumbler Bluetooth speaker combo!
- The VTScada Configuration Challenge: Touted as the hardest yet, that didn’t stop our reigning champion, Steven Gillan, from securing his place as a repeat winner! In tradition of ScadaFest, he was crowned at the closing!
- Delta’s Challenge: Between sessions, people could enter the hands-on lab where they could configure VTScada to communicate to a multi-lens domed security camera and other Delta industrial equipment. The more tasks they completed, the better chances they had at winning!
- Industry Titans: In addition to the 29 VTScada experts on site, ScadaFest welcomed eight Titans of Industry to speak on topics such as Cybersecurity, Using AI to reduce flooding catastrophes, intuitive tools built-into VTScada helping utilities “do it” themselves, streamlining data collection, industry-leading ISA standards, and world-class hardware solutions.
- Optional Training: Before ScadaFest, participants dove into three days of VTScada training, honing their skills.
A Few Final Comments
“ScadaFest is better every year. The sessions were excellent, and each event was right on schedule. The configuration challenge was excellent and I’m proud of 3rd place.”
Hudson S, Texas, USA
“What an amazing time. The sessions hit much needed topics and industry updates. It’s an absolute can’t miss event! Especially seeing the whole VTScada team!”
Mark P, Texas, USA
“It was good to catch up and learn more about VTScada. It was a first-class event!”
Brad P, Washington, USA
“The Trihedral team did an excellent job planning and executing ScadaFest! I enjoyed it, learned a lot, and made great connections.”
Ayanna E, North Carolina, USA
“Thanks so much for an awesome event!”
Jeremy W, British Columbia, Canada
“Thank you for the opportunity to learn from great people at ScadaFest, the team have really made it excellent, it has been a phenomenal event and the best training days, I can’t help but say thank you!”
Cesar S, Chile
“Great training and lots of knowledge flowing from the developers of the best SCADA software out there!”
Paul B, North Carolina, USA
“Thank you for a wonderful product and thank you for listening to your customers.”
Craig S, Florida, USA