VTScadaFest 2018

VTScada International Technical Training and Community Conference – Feb 7-8, 2018, Orlando, FL

“I wanted to thank you for the great time and look forward to the next one.”
Dick Gregg, ‎SCADA Systems Specialist, Engineer Service Corporation, Florida

“Just when you think you know everything about VTScada, you come to this conference and learn a whole lot more. I’ve done nothing but take notes of things to add to our repertoire for Information and Technology.”
Kurtis Jackson, SCADA Specialist, Canadian Natural Resources Limited (CNRL), Alberta

“It has been absolutely fabulous having the Developer’s Den. To be able to sit down with the engineers who wrote the drivers and also have the opportunity to give direct influence on the product via feature requests is incredible. The technical support I receive from Trihedral is unmatched.”
Joel Hying, ‎Technology Support Specialist, ‎HOA Solutions Inc., Nebraska

“We are here this week doing testing and learning about the system. The conference has been excellent. The instructor’s have just been fabulous. We’ve been to the Developer’s Den and able to get one-on-one which has been really good.”
Dave Edwards, SCADA Technician, St Johns County, Florida

“We just wanted to say thanks for inviting us to the event. It was put together very well. Lots of good information.”
Bill Dick, Project Manager, Telemetry & Control Systems Solutions, Inc., Florida

“We wanted to take a minute and thank y’all for the hard work and preparation everyone did to pull off the first annual VTScada Fest. I feel the information our company got from this event has gone a long way towards getting us started to utilize and promote VTScada where we can in the municipal market. We all have a much deeper understanding of the capabilities of all the software after attending.”
Bill Parrish, Director of Business Development, piedmont Automation, North Carolina

“I’m having a great time at VTScadaFest, there are lots of interesting topics and conversations going on. There are some great networking opportunities. It is the first time they are holding it and they are killing it! Hopefully they do it again.”
Mike Stoup, I&C/SCADA Group Manager, McKim & Creed, Florida

“We came to see the new capabilities that are being released next year so that we can market VTScada to our customers better. Really enjoying the sessions especially the one on virtual servers, but they are all really interesting.”
James Denton, Manager, Electric Machine Control, Inc, Alabama

“I came to VTScadaFest to learn more about Cyber Security and the new features that VTScada will offer. The conference has been excellent and I’m looking forward to next year.”
Luis Acosta, Chief of Central Maintenance, City of Ocala Water Resources, Florida

“The conference has been fantastic and extremely well organized; really enjoyed the new features and the discussions. Lots of things being talked about in the Developers Den, getting the one on one time with the people who develop the product is a huge benefit.”
Mervyn Betts, Owner, BettsM Controls Inc, Alberta

“The event last night was very fun, thanks for hosting it! The conference has been very informative. Everyone at VTScada is very knowledgeable about the product, I enjoyed the conference.”
Dan Naughton, Director, Industrial Products, CONTEC Americas Inc., Illinois

“I have got amazing knowledgeable about VTScada and its features.”
Jed Thompson, Technical Administrator, Barney’s Pumps, Florida

“I have really gotten a lot from this conference; I have learned a lot of things I didn’t know. The Developers Den is really beneficial and was a great addition to the technical sessions.”
Doug Turner, Lead Specialist, Engineering Systems, Surge Energy America, LLC, Texas

Who attended?

System Integrators
OEMs
Project Engineers
Utility Directors and Managers
In-house SCADA programmers
SCADA Operators

Learn From the Experts!

Technical training sessions were hosted by members of our R&D and engineering group covering topics from architecture design, IT and security considerations, understanding advanced protocols, improving integration efficiencies, planning for long-term growth, design considerations, and more than a dozen product-focused technical training sessions. We previewed VTScada Version 12 (which promises some game-changing elements all on its own)!

Review the topics here.

Please have the nine sessions you are most interested to attend ready when you register.

Session	Description
Advanced Diagnostics Tools Session Number 1	Take a tour of the debugging and diagnostic tools available to you to both troubleshoot issues and pre-emptively avoid problems.
Advanced Tag Templates Session Number 2	Creating new tag types is a powerful feature in VTScada. Learn how to make the most of them and how to avoid pitfalls when updating them on production systems.
Alarm Tools and Best Practices Session Number 3	Alarms are perhaps the single most important feature of a SCADA system. Learn about some best practices that will reduce operator fatigue and optimize productivity.
Building and Managing Common Tools Session Number 4	VTScada has a facility for creation of what are called OEM Layers. Hear how this feature can organize your common tools to help manage and simplify multiple applications, whether you’re a system integrator aiming to streamline application development, an OEM creating your own product, or a large end user managing multiple applications.
Case Studies Session Number 5	Join us for a review of some challenging applications and the lessons learned during their implementation.
ChangeSets Session Number 6	While most users appreciate the VTScada ChangeSet functionality, they generally only leverage a fraction of its real power. Join us as we dig deep into the features and benefits of some of the options available.
Cloud Design Considerations Session Number 7	Have you contemplated moving your application to a cloud platform such as Azure or Amazon? There are a number of key considerations that you must consider before doing so, such as how your application will fit the cloud pricing model, network access, and user loads. Join us to walk through considerations and examples.
Competitive Upgrades Session Number 8	A high percentage of VTScada installations are conversions from competitive products. This seminar will reveal the internal tools and methods our engineering group utilizes to assist customers, plus a preview of some planned enhancements.
Cyber Security Session Number 9	Application security is an element that must be carefully designed in any installation. This seminar will cover details of proper architecture, Thin Client considerations, Windows Security integration, and OpenID Connect.
Digging Deep Into Redundancy Configuration – The Driver Multiplexor Session Number 10	The VTScada multiplexor tag has many advanced configuration capabilities to permit redundant networks, redundant I/O or both. These aid in the ability for systems to maintain operation of critical infrastructure during times of component failure. This topic will detail the many advanced options available.
Expressions / Calculations Session Number 11	Calculations can be used not only to do arithmetic on various inputs in real-time, but also to control the parameters of tags and even whether tags start or stop. We’ll explore the options available to handle specific common situations.
Fun With Maps Session Number 12	The map view has been a feature of VTScada for years. Come get a sneak peek at the enhancements to maps that are on the horizon and a review of the capabilities already there.
Historian Session Number 13	The Historian is one of the key features of any SCADA system and is built into every copy of VTScada. Explore the capabilities and best practices when configuring the Historian and learn what to avoid.
Historical Data Editing Session Number 14	Learn about the planned new features to allow editing of historical data to correct for off-line instruments, calibration errors and manually collected (lab) data.
Productivity Using Templates Session Number 15	While there’s often a temptation to cut and paste to make new pages and widgets, parameterizing them is a more powerful way to build applications quickly and maintain them. Come learn the ins and outs of how this is done.
Reporting Tools Session Number 16	Reports are a key aspect of making the most of your data. Get an overview of the options that VTScada offers and a glimpse of what’s coming.
Self-Health Resource Monitoring Session Number 17	Did you know VTScada has some advanced tools that permit the system to monitor its computing environment and provide alerts in advance of potential problems? Join us for a discussion and training on their benefits and configuration.
Selling VTScada Session Number 18	This session will introduce key VTScada differentiators and how to position them against the other major software vendors. Join us as we explore architecture differences and design philosophy that give VTScada users fundamental benefits.
System Architecture Design Considerations Session Number 19	When designing any system, consideration must be given to processing loads of data updates, data paths, client access and user actions. These can also be influenced by one-time or continuous development plans and change according to management needs. Join us for a discussion of various scenarios and “lessons from a hot stove” on what to avoid.
Tag List Widgets Session Number 20	A rather benign-sounding tool can be the source of simplifying scalable applications. Learn about how the Tag List widget can create tables and grids of sites, wells, etc., and automatically grow as your system expands.
The New Master Application Session Number 21	The Mothership is coming! Many users manage multiple facilities but require an overview capability to see everything in a single view as well. This planned new feature allows taking smaller applications to instantly create a combined view relatively effortlessly. Come for a sneak peek on how to keep the ability to manage smaller applications while still getting the big picture.
VTScada Certified Solution Provider Program Session Number 22	The VTScada CSP program has had tremendous growth over the years and is improving. Join us for a discussion of upcoming changes that will bring enhanced benefits.

Alan Hudson, US Sales Manager – Based in Trussville, Alabama, Alan brings an extensive background in the monitoring and control industry with over 25 years of experience with companies such as Revere Control Systems, Bristol Babcock, Control Microsystems and various key positions within Schneider Electric over the last 10 years. In 2016, Alan was the recipient of 1st Prize for Best Presentation at the 2016 ISA Water/Wastewater and Automatic Controls Symposium.
Barry Baker, Vice President, Trihedral – With a degree in Electrical Engineering, Barry worked for 4.5 years at Michelin Tires Canada in the central engineering group for process automation, performing projects ranging from PLCs to HMIs, machine vision to robotic systems. Barry started out at Trihedral in the engineering group developing application code and communications drivers for projects in the marine, power, water/wastewater and chemicals sectors. In addition to overseeing Trihedral’s sales and marketing activities, Barry is personally responsible for several large corporate accounts.
Glenn Wadden, President, Trihedral – Glenn founded Trihedral in 1986 with a vision to create software to simplify the creation of human machine interfaces and still holds the role of Chief Software Architect for VTScada. A life-long Nova Scotian, he earned degrees in Engineering Physics at Dalhousie University, and a Masters of Science in Electrical Engineering with a minor in Computer Science at the University of Minneapolis.
Graham Bloice, VTScada Programmer – Graham has been a member of the VTScada R&D team since the Aberdeen, Scotland, office opened in 1998. He previously worked on control systems in the oil and gas industry and in the Royal Air Force as a simulator technician. Graham’s work on VTScada includes alarms, security, drivers, graphics, historian, and engine internals. Graham is also responsible for such internal systems as source code control, bug tracking, network administration, and security. Graham is a Wireshark Core Developer and presents at the SharkFest User and Developer Conferences.
Keith Donaldson, Director of Business Development UK – Keith began his career overseeing telemetry and communication assets for Mobil North Sea Limited. At Kvaerner FSSL (now Aker Solutions), Keith progressed to Senior Software Engineer supporting monitoring and control systems for subsea oil and gas production (written using WEB – an early version of VTScada). As Director of Business Development, Keith supports Trihedral’s European customers and OEMs, writes drivers (AB CIP, IEC 60870-5-104), presents training courses, and attends trade shows.
Luc Ouellet, Regional Engineering Manager, Alberta, Canada – For seventeen years Luc has been using VTScada to create advanced industrial applications in a variety of industries. Luc became Trihedral’s expert in cloud-based SCADA systems and helped to develop highly-specialized applications for the energy sector. In 2015, Luc relocated to Calgary, Alberta, to become the Regional Engineering Manager in the new Calgary office where he supports Trihedral’s large partner network of SIs, OEMs, and End Users.
Ryan MacPherson, VTScada Programmer – As part of the VTScada R&D team, Ryan spent the last sixteen years helping to design some of the core components of VTScada such as the Idea Studio, the Alarm Manager, the Display Manager, the Historical Data Viewer, Operator Notes, and Slippy Maps.