IDUG North American Conference 2006

2006-07-03T15:50:00.000-04:00

Stay abreast of the plannning for IDUG North America 2007 in San Jose.
Regularly visit the IDUG North America 2007 blog for up to date information about what's coming for 2007.

2006-07-03T15:47:00.000-04:00

Share your IDUG experience
We invite you to share your experiences about IDUG. We would love to know what you liked, what we could do better and how you have used the information you learned at IDUG. Click here to share your experiences.

2006-05-15T16:48:00.000-04:00

IDUG 2006 - North America Exceeded Expectations

More than 1,200 members of the worldwide DB2 and Informix user communities gathered together for IDUG 2006 - North America, representing an estimated 10 percent increase in attendance from the 2005 conference. View the full wrap-up article for more information on this year's highly successful conference.

2006-05-15T08:15:00.000-04:00

Message from Paul Turpin, IDUG 2007 Presentations Committee Chairperson

I echo all the positive words of Joe Burns, in his May 10th post. The conference facility was wonderful, with all the session rooms close together. The technical content of the program this year was top-notch and I’m sure that will be reflected in the post-conference attendee surveys. Several times I overheard attendees discussing which session they should attend, because they were having trouble deciding among 2 or 3 sessions in the same time slot. As a member of the conference planning committee, this was extremely gratifying to hear.

I congratulate David Simpson on his Best Overall Presentation and Best User Presentation awards. It has been a long time since a user won the best overall presentation, so this is doubly impressive. Congratulations also to the rest of the Top 10 Overall Presenters and Top 10 User Presentations. The IDUG conferences benefit greatly from the tremendous efforts put forth by all the speakers, whether they are consultants, IBM speakers, user speakers or vendor speakers. Countless thousands of hours were spent by speakers preparing for their IDUG presentations. Their preparations shined through in their presentations. I’m proud to be associated with all of them.

At the Call for Presentations 2007 meeting, there were a number of potential IDUG 2007 NA speakers asking lots of good questions. This gives us an early indication that we will have lots of excellent user presentations on the IDUG 2007 NA program for San Jose, California. It will be great having the conference in the backyard of IBM’s DB2 for z/OS lab!

2006-05-11T16:52:00.000-04:00

IDUG 2006 Best Overall Presenter

IDUG 2006 Best User Presenter

David Simpson

TransUnion

IIUG 2006 Best User Presenter

Art Kagel

Bloomberg

IIUG 2006 Best Overall Speaker

John Miller

IBM

Congratulations to the winners!

2006-05-11T16:41:00.000-04:00

Congratulations to the IDUG 2006 Top 10 User Presenters and Top 10 Overall Presenters!
Top 10 Users and Top 10 Overall Presenters are selected based on the user feedback surveys.

The Top 10 IDUG User Presenters (in alphabetical order)
Jon Capelli, Highmark Inc.
Rob Crane, FedEx Freight System
Robert Goodman, Florida Hospital
Joan Keemle, John Deere
Lisa Ouellette, Wachovia
David Simpson, TransUnion
Anne Stout, Dow Jones and Co.
Thanikachalam "Billy" Sundarrajan, Fifth Third Bank
James Surber, Universal Underwriters
Paul Turpin, Wachovia

Top 10 Overall Presenters (in alphabetical order)
Chris Eaton, IBM
William Favero, IBM
Brian Holroyd, Database Consulting Service
Sheryl Larsen, Sheryl M. Larsen, Inc.
Dale McInnis, IBM
Roger Miller, IBM
Terry Purcell, IBM
David Simpson, TransUnion
Bryan Smith, IBM
James Surber, Universal Underwriters

2006-05-10T17:36:00.000-04:00

Notes from the IDUG North America Chair – Wednesday.

Hello. First, just some updates from yesterday. The Tuesday sessions went well, there were some really good ones going on. There was more than one time when I had a tough time deciding which room I would sit in on.

The other thing I’ve noticed is that the IBM certification room seems to be quite busy. I don’t have any official numbers yet on how many people took DB2 and Informix certifications, but it looks like quite a few from just what I’ve observed.

I’ve also noticed that many of the VSP sessions have been quite well attended. We’ve got some good VSP sessions this year and apparently people are really taking advantage of them. There were a couple of really interesting ones that dealt with more than just a vendor’s product. Things that dealt with performance, high availability and reducing costs. Of course there is always some marketing in these sessions, after all that’s what they’re designed for. But having some additional technical content that the attendees can take away from it seems to be a real draw.

Earlier this morning we also had our first Special Interest Group sessions. This is something that’s a little new for us. We usually have the SIGs during a single time slot on Wednesday evening. But we wanted to give attendees a chance to see more than a single SIG so we put some in the morning and some in the evening. In fact we’ve even got some more on Thursday. The biggest challenge of course is the early time of the SIG. It started at 7:15am and that’s pretty early after you’ve been through 3 days of a very busy conference. But the turnout was good for some, and a little light for others. We like the idea of offering them in more than 1 time slot, but maybe we’ve just got to find a different time. Challenges for next year.

Saw some great sessions this afternoon. I’ve got an idea that one of the sessions I saw is going to win Best user speaker. I won’t say which in case I’m wrong, but everyone in the session was really raving about how much they got out of it. That’s the best, especially when it’s one of our user speakers.

Well, that’s it for now. We’ve had a very full day, with more to come tomorrow. I’m looking forward to it.

Regards,
Joe Burns
IDUG 2006 – North America
Conference Planning Committee Chairperson

2006-05-10T15:43:00.000-04:00

2006-05-10T08:08:00.000-04:00

IDUG 2006 – North America - More Daily Updates

Evaluation Card Raffle Winner!!
Congratulations to David Link of West Corp, winner of Tuesday’s evaluation card raffle. Please report to IDUG Headquarters at Registration to claim your prize. One winner will be drawn each day so remember to fill out your evaluation cards!

Networking Game Winners!
The following people are winners of the IDUG 2006 - North America DB2 and Informix (Crypto-Definitions) game.

-Tim Parke, PA CLEB
-Debra Moleen, Systems & Methods, Inc.
-Thomas Provencher, KB Toys
-Ken Ernstein, CSC
-Jerry Fuller, Farmers Insurance
-Hardy Lewis, CheckFree
-Pamela Rozehnal, CSX
-Randy Ficken, NSHE
-Eric Rowell, NVR
-John Carlson, Home Depot
-Dick Gunnell, Watkins
-Motor Lines, Inc.
-Kathy Mitchell, Discover Financial

All winners should report to Registration to claim their prize.

IBM DB2 and Informix Professional Certification Testing
7:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Room 12, Tampa Convention Center

Certification Update
On Monday, 119 IDUG attendees were tested with a 64% passing rate. Don’t miss your chance to become a certified professional this week. A total of 158 attendees were tested this already this week with a overall 63% passing rate.

Become an IBM Certified DB2 or Informix professional at no additional cost to you. That’s right, it’s FREE! Take as many tests as often as you want! Each exam takes approximately 75 minutes.

Review the full list of exams available on page 14 of your Final Program.

2006-05-09T18:59:00.000-04:00

IDUG 2006—North America – Daily Updates

Day Three: IDUG 2006 - North America
Day Three of IDUG 2006 - North America brings another full conference line-up. Don’t forget to sign up for the Dine Around at Registration and make sure to hand in your questions for the IBM panel discussions on Thursday. Read through Wednesday's issue of the Daily Globe at http://portal.idug.org to stay on top of everything going on at the conference.

RUG/IUGLC Volunteer Leadership Breakfast
7:15 a.m. - 8:15 a.m., Room 11

Continental Breakfast
7:15 a.m. - 8:15 a.m., Ballroom C
Breakfast will also be served outside the SIG (Special Interest Group) rooms.

Passport to Prizes
11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m., Exhibit Hall

Don’t miss the Passport to Prizes presentation following lunch in the Exhibit Hall directly at 12:30 p.m. Must be present to win.

Meet the Speakers / IBM Developers Reception
6:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
Grand Ballroom – Marriott Hotel

Hosted by IDUG, here’s your chance to meet the conference speakers and IBM developers. Take advantage of this unique forum to talk one-on-one with your favorite speaker or ask IBM representatives about DB2 and Informix topics, including future DB2 or Informix releases.

NOTE: This event will not be taking place at the Tampa Convention Center

Schedule Changes - Wednesday
- Session N08: Open Up! IDS Application Development with PHP, will now feature Venkatesh Gopal of IBM as speaker.

** New addition - Session A10: DW Performance and Scalability, with Kondal Yennaram of IBM in Room 20 at 2:30 p.m.

- Session L10: Informix Application Development in Depth (Part 1 of 2) will now feature Amit Dandekar of IBM as speaker.

- Session L11: Informix Application Development In Depth (Part 2 of 2) will now feature Amit Dandekar of IBM

- Vendor Solution Presentation V29: Data Integration and Warehousing in System z will now occur in Room 14.

** New Addition – Vendor Solution Presentation V34: Pragmatic Solutions: Syspedia: Metadata Web Services for Performance with speaker David Beulke, will occur at 10:00 a.m. in Room 15.

** New Addition – Vendor Solution Presentation V01: Database-Brothers: Taking a Bite Out of Data Crimes and Corruption, with speaker Scott Hayes, will occur at 10:00 a.m. in Room 13.

** Special Interest Group (SIG) Informix DBA Best Practices will now occur in Room 1 & 2.

2006-05-09T15:53:00.000-04:00

Notes from the IDUG North America Chair – Tuesday morning.

Day two of the technical sessions has begun and it started with a bit of a thunderstorm. Early this morning a storm moved through and although it was raining quite hard, you wouldn’t know it from looking out the window now. Suddenly the sun is back and it looks like the Florida from the postcards again.

We’ve only just had our first session of the day, and I peaked in a couple of the rooms. Looks like the storm didn’t hamper anyone’s plans from showing up for sessions. A number of them were quite full.

We also had the IDUG Annual Breakfast meeting this morning. Sometimes people aren’t exactly sure what it is, and it takes them a little by surprise when we suddenly start off a meeting right in the middle of the main breakfast hall. But IDUG is a user organization and we want to be open with the members and attendees on where the organization is going, and who is leading it. So Bob Omerza, the current IDUG Board president leads the meeting and he gives some background on IDUG and then introduces the slate of candidates for the board. This is then approved by the audience in attendance.

This year’s incoming Board members are Maria Sarikos and Elizabeth Moore. I know both of these folks personally, and there couldn’t be any better picks. Definitely good for the board. That’s the good news. The bad news is that outgoing members are Sandy Smith and Cathy Peck. Anyone who’s been around IDUG at all knows how much both of these people have put into the organization. Their energy and guidance will be missed. The new president was also announced and that will be Robert Caterall. Again, I think this is a great move on the board’s part, and I look forward to big things coming from IDUG next year.

I also wanted to mention something that came up at last night’s RUG leaders meeting. IBM was quite sincere and insistent about insuring the RUGs are receiving proper support from their IBM liaison. If you’re running a RUG, and you’re not getting the support you need, send Mike Swift (dbswift@us.ibm.com) or Maria Sarikos an email. They want to help, and with the backing of Paul Rivot, who was also in the meeting, they will be able to help.

The last thing I want to pass along is the link to another great BLOG. Willie Favero has been posting conference updates on his BLOG as well. And he’s got some great stuff out there. So check it out at: blogs.ittoolbox.com/database/db2zos

That’s it for now.

Regards,
Joe Burns
IDUG 2006 – North America
Conference Planning Committee Chairperson

2006-05-08T19:19:00.000-04:00

IDUG 2006 - North America
Daily Conference Updates:

Schedule Changes for Tuesday

Session I05 - Embarcadero Technologies: Enterprise Monitoring of DB2 LUWDatabases is now in Room 14
Session J05 – DB2 Disaster Recovery and HighAvailability Features [Part 2 of 2] is now in Room 22.
** New Addition ** VSP27 - Princeton Softech: Data Growth Management for DB2, UDB and InformixDatabases, Speaker Jim Mazzeo, will occur from 2:30 p.m. – 3:40 p.m. in Room 4

Certification Update
On Sunday, 37 IDUG attendees were tested with a 62% passing rate. Don’t miss your chance to become a certified professional this week.

Evaluation Card Raffle Winner
Congratulations to Jerry Fuller of Farmers Insurance, winner of Monday’s evaluation card raffle. Please report to IDUG Headquarters at Registration to claim your prize.One winner will be drawn each day so remember to fill out your evaluation cards!

Don't Forget Tuesday's Breakfast Meetings

IDUG General Business Meeting & Breakfast7:30 a.m.– 8:30 a.m. Ballroom CD
IIUG Breakfast with Bruce Weed7:30 a.m. – 8:30 a.m. Room 1 & 2

Read the full version of the Daily Globe at http://portal.idug.org

Stop back here for more conference updates throughout the week!

2006-05-08T15:17:00.000-04:00

Notes from the IDUG North America Chair - Monday.

Hello. Well, the conference is off and running and so far things seem to be going well. Attendance is up this year and that’s just a great thing on so many levels. And there’s a real nice energy to the conference this year. People are upbeat and excited about the education, and of course also about Tampa. It is a very beautiful city and the convention center is really laid out nicely.

We had the Ed Seminar sessions on Sunday and they seem to have gone very well. I heard a number of comments that the seminars were really well done this year. So I’ll say “many Thanks” to our Ed Sem instructors for that.

We also had the welcome reception on Sunday evening, and that was a lot of fun. One of the things we did new this year was to have the Conference Planning Committee dressed to blend in with the reception theme. The theme this year is a Pirate theme (it’s Tampa right), and so the CPC were wearing black pirate caps and bandanas….. aaargghh me hearties…. It was different, it was interesting, and since we get to keep the hats, I now have a fun gift for my three year old.

Monday morning we had the keynote presentation by Bob Picciano and I thought it went exceptionally well. We had a full house, and Bob brought some energy, and a great message about DB2 and Informix and how they stacked up against some of the competition. In particular he had some great slides on the newest release of DB2 for open systems, and I think I can summarize his message by saying something like “DB2 viper is going to kick butt”. Lots of good stuff about DB2 for Z and Informix as well.

The other great thing about the keynote was the short DB2 video that IBM ran right before Bob’s keynote. It was really upbeat with some great music and some real eye opening customer testimonials. Really nice to see IBM aggressively putting the right message out there. I’ve had at least 3 people ask me about the video because they would love to have a copy to share back home with their company or regional user group. I’ve asked Bob about this, and he seems agreeable to it, so we’re going to work out the details. Look for something more on that.

Well that’s about it for now, except that I did want to pass along a little tip for everyone who’s fortunate enough to be down here in Tampa with us for the conference. I had dinner the other night at a wonderful little restaurant that had just great food and a really fun atmosphere. The name of the place is the Laughing Cat, and it’s down in Ybor city. I have to admit that when we first got there it seemed like a bit of a “hole in the wall” place. But some of the locals corrected my misperception and said that it was a great place and I was in for a treat. They were right. We had family style Italian food, and each dish that came out was just better than the last. If you have a chance check it out. Incidentally it’s one of the restaurants participating in our Wednesday dine around. Which you can sign up for right next to the registration area.

Ok, time to get back to conference stuff. Hope everyone is enjoying this week as much as I am.

Regards,
Joe Burns
IDUG 2006 – North America
Conference Planning Committee Chairperson

2006-05-06T13:16:00.000-04:00

Notes from the IDUG North America Chair.

Hello, it’s Saturday afternoon before the start of the big conference, and I thought I’d drop a few lines. You know it’s funny, we spend so much time planning and preparing for this conference and now that it’s here I can hardly think where all the time went. Seems like just a few hours ago we were just finishing up the 2005 conference in Denver. But I supposed time flies when you’re having fun… or when you’re hurtling along on a tight schedule, with an insane timeline and a seemingly endless parade of issues. But mostly I think it’s the fun. And it has been a lot of fun. Being on the conference planning committee and being the chair for this year has been a lot of work, but it’s also been very rewarding for me. I work with a great group of folks, and they’ve put together a great event.

So, enough about planning the conference. Let’s talk about actually BEING at the conference. There’s some new things this year, and hopefully you’ll find them enjoyable. You know each year, there’s always some little thing or another that we sort of worry and obsess over. Usually it’s something that didn’t work so well the year before so we are all hypersensitive about making sure that it works this year. This year the issue we obsessed over sounds a little trivial but it’s not. The issue was cell phone reception at the convention center.

Denver was a great site for IDUG and the facility was absolutely one of the best we’ve been in. BUT for some strange reason there was almost no way to get a cell phone signal in the actual convention center itself. Think about the squadrons of IT professionals roaming the halls of the convention center desperately seeking a signal so they could “connect” to the outside world. I honestly think that without the Internet Café there for people to “plug in” and get their fix, there may have been a riot. Not pretty when us IT types take it on ourselves to riot.

Well rest assured that shouldn’t be a problem this year. We visited the site in August of 2005 and toured the facility. Everyone was checking to see if there cells worked. I’m certain the center personnel thought we were a bit off our rockers. Think about a group of 10 of us wandering about like little lost ducks with our cell phones held up proudly in front of us …. “can you hear me now? Can you hear me now??” Comical. But the good news is that cell phones worked just about everywhere. So, obsession is over for this year. Wonder what next year will be.

Well enough for now. I’ll try to drop some notes throughout the conference. The Ed Seminars start tomorrow and we’ve got some really good ones going on this year. And of course the Welcome reception in the evening. I’m really looking forward to that. That’s one of the really great things about IDUG. You get to see old friends, and even make new ones.

Hopefully if you’re reading this you’re at the conference already. And if, unfortunately you’re not going to be at the conference, then at least you can always check in with your friends by calling them on their cell phones.

Regards,
Joe Burns
IDUG 2006 – North America
Conference Planning Committee Chairperson

2006-05-01T11:06:00.000-04:00

The IDUG InSider CodePlace: A Place to Share Code!
Do you have sample JCL, scripts of any kind, or SQL that you'd like to share with the IDUG community? If so, consider posting it on the IDUG Insider CodePlace. It's a place to share DB2 (LUW or Z/OS) related code segments, scripts, REXX execs, JCL, sample utilities...etc.
If you have a quick tip of trick then there is also a place to post "Tips of the Week".
So, how do you submit items to the IDUG Insider CodePlace?....You ask...
If you are not already a member of the IDUG InSider, please register as a First Time User, then login to IDUG InSider [ http://www.idug.org/user/UserLogin.asp]
Click"The Code Place" button in the lower-left corner and following the 'online submission form' link for further instructions.
Even if you don't have anything to share on the InSider Code Place...yet, register anyway to see what others have submitted. Many of the IDUG North America Conference Presenters may be sharing a few of their tricks at the "Code Place". You may just find an uber solution that may save you oodles of time.
And as an added benefit...ALL IDUG InSider members receive a 45% discount on purchases of books about DB2 and other subjects from IBM Press/ the Pearson Technology Group.
Check out the IDUG InSider Today!! [http://www.idug.org/user/UserLogin.asp]

2006-04-14T16:28:00.000-04:00

Subject: Go Further...with networking opportunities at IDUG 2006 - North America
IDUG 2006 - North America has tremendous opportunities for attendees
to network with fellow DB2 and Informix users, industry consultants, leading solution providers and IBM Developers. Share your experiences and learn firsthand success and challenges of users like you.
Expand your DB2 and Informix professional support community.
Click here to learn more about Networking opportunities at IDUG 2006 - North America including receptions schedule, Special Interest Groups, and the Dine Around.

"I gained experience from other users, which helps us to prevent the same issues."
-IDUG 2005 - North America attendee
_____
Go further by sharing your experiences at Special Interest Groups (SIGs) held throughout the conference. Dig deeper into the topics that interest you most. Team up with your peers, share best practices, learn from subject-matter experts and brainstorm solutions around a specialized area of interest specific to DB2 or Informix products through these Special Interest Groups (SIGs). This year SIGs will be spread out across three different timeslots to allow you to attend multiple sessions. Click Here
_____
IDUG 2006 - North America gives access to the top solution providers for the DB2 and Informix families of products. Attend the Products & Services Exhibition to meet face-to-face with leading solution providers and discover the latest technology insights and innovations that can improve the way you do business and your bottom-line return at the Products & Services Exhibition. Learn how you can integrate these new technologies into your existing system to enhance your database performance and take your organization to the next level.
View a full listing of this year's exhibitors here.
_____
IDUG gives you options! Register today for the one-day or two-day package.
The two-day package includes access to a day of Pre-Conference Educational Seminars on Sunday, May 7, plus full conference access on Monday, May 8.
The one-day option includes admission to any single day of the conference (Monday - Thursday).
Click here to register online today or here to download a print-friendly version

_____
Maximize your conference experience by attending an optional Pre-Conference Educational seminar (additional fee required) held on Sunday, May 7, in advance of the official conference lineup. These seminars are packed with intensive training, and are offered in both full-day and half-day formats.

Check them out!!
_____
:
IDUG 2006 North America - General Information

2006-04-14T08:19:00.000-04:00

Free Registration Raffle Winner!!!

Thank you to all who participated in the IDUG 2006 – North America free registration raffle.

Congratulations to Lori Bewley, Yum! Brands, Inc., winner of the this year's raffle.

We hope to see you in Tampa!

IDUG gives you options!
Register today for the one-day or two-day package. Register Here!

The two-day package includes access to a day of Pre-Conference Educational Seminars on Sunday, May 7, plus full conference access on Monday, May 8.

The one-day option includes admission to any single day of the conference (Monday - Thursday).

Educational Seminars
Maximize your conference experience by attending an optional Pre-Conference Educational seminar (additional fee required) held on Sunday, May 7, in advance of the official conference lineup. These seminars are packed with intensive training, and are offered in both full-day and half-day formats.

Register Here for Education Seminars

2006-04-07T11:57:00.000-04:00

Subject: Go Further... with IBM Certification Testing
FREE certification testing for DB2 and Informix will once again be offered at the IDUG North America Conference. At last year's conference over 500 tests were given, with a pass rate of nearly 60%. Many employers view the certifications as something concrete the attendee brings back with them from the conference.

It is often hard for an attendee to show something specific and measurable to their boss back at the office, but a certification can do that.
To see all the certifications that will be offerred at the conference and the hours of certification testing go to: IDUG 2006 Tampa - Certification Testing

The official source for certification information is IBM Information Management Certifications Website . Here you find out the details about each of the certification tests.

A very good general purpose DB2 certification article was written by Howard Fosdick some time ago. It is entitled DB2 version 8 certification: Everything you need to know

The article has some good suggestions to help you prepare for the certification tests. Preparation may improve your chances of passing the exams.

On Sunday, May 7th at the conference, there are two Educational Seminars designed for helping certification candidates prepare for the tests.

The seminars are:

W03 - DB2 for z/OS V8 DBA Certification Crammer Course taught by Susan Lawson, the author of DB2 for z/OS Version 8 DBA Certification Guide and
W10 - DB2 v8.1 Database Administrator Certification Exam (Exam 701) Preparation taught by Rogers Sander the author of several DB2 for LUW certification study guides.

You can get additional information about these Educational Seminars at: IDUG 2006 Tampa Educational Seminars

2006-04-07T11:41:00.000-04:00

Subject: Go Further...with Sunday Education Seminars
We have some awesome instructors lined up to give Educational Seminars at the IDUG 2006 - North America Conference. The Educational Seminars will take place Sunday, May 7th. They are a great way to start your conference experience.
There is a topic for everyone, whether you are looking for DB2 for z/OS topics,
DB2 for LUW topics, Business Intelligence, application development or database recovery. There are six half-day Informix Education Seminars on a variety of topics.
Please take a a few minutes to review the Educational Seminars at:
IDUG 2006 Tampa Educational Seminars
and you are sure to find something that fits your interest.

2006-04-04T10:37:00.000-04:00

Message from the President of the International Informix Users Group, Stuart Litel

Over ten years ago I attended the first Informix conference back (ok the mind is going was it San Francisco or San Jose) but I have been to each every Informix conference. Now that the IIUG has teamed up with IDUG for the premier event for a database conference under the IBM Information Management brand, and this being the second year of the event, this will be an event not to miss. Last year I attended the event with some reservations if the IIUG was doing the right thing and joining up with IDUG. As the months lead upto the Denver conference in May 2005 I was hesitant, but the great bunch of Conference Planning people at IDUG and former IDUG President Sandy Smith assured me that the Informix people would be welcome with open arms.
After getting to the event in Denver last year I was quite impressed with the professionalism and the wonderful join the Conference Planning Committee did. All the comments I received from each and every possible Informix attendee that I spoke to were from "This was the best Informix Technical event I had ever been to" to "Cant wait for next year". Well next year is almost upon us and the IIUG along with the great people at IDUG Conference Planning Committee headed up by Joe Burns (Speaking of Joe Burns, for those that know me, Joe and I had a bet on football this past season. Living in Boston I am a New England Patriots Fan and Joe being a Pittsburgh Steelers fan we had a season long bet and I have to pay up wearing an IDUG shirt for one full day at the event) and from the Informix side Cindy Lichtenauer have some real great events planned, including on a special event which is not on the schedule of a special Informix speaker we just confirmed.
Back to the fact I have been to each and every Informix conference since the first year, I find the knowledge cannot be gathered anywhere else. I have heard that these events are expensive, but what I have learned over the years with tips, tricks, and special knowledge that is passed on at these events from fellow Informix DBA's and application programmers you cannot put a price tag on them. It is less money to go to this event than a typical week of Informix training and not only will you learn more, pick up more tips and tricks, but you get to meet other people who do the same line of work that you do and these individuals become good friends to share their knowledge over the years.

See you all in Tampa.....
Stuart Litel
President
International Informix Users Group

2006-04-03T13:21:00.000-04:00

Subject: Volunteer Opportunity at IDUG 2006 - North America: Moderate a Session!
Go further...
with your IDUG 2006 North America Conference experience! Moderate a Session!
Interested in volunteering to moderate a session at this year's conference?
Session moderators are essential to the success of each and every IDUG conference and you can help. To become a moderator, after registering to attend the conference, simply go to the Personal Itinerary Builder on the Conference Scheduler page and login at the bottom of the page. Click on "Grid View of Schedule." At the top and each session needing a moderator or alternate moderator click on the link that says "Moderate This Session"
and fill out a short form with your contact information.
Before volunteering to moderate, please review the moderator roles and responsibilities.

2006-03-15T08:48:00.000-05:00

Attention RUG/LUG Leaders

Do you have a RUG/LUG meeting scheduled between March 20th and May 5th?
If so, help spread the word about the upcoming IDUG 2006 North America Conference-Tampa, FL-May 7-11, 2006 Visit www.idug.org for details.

We can help you spread the word with a bundle of IDUG 2006 Advance Programs to be distributed at your RUG/LUG Meeting.

If you would like to help distribute these Advance Programs then send the following information to James Knisley.

RUG/LUG Name:
RUG/LUG Leader or Contact Name:
Delivery Address, City, State, Country, Zip/Postal Code Contact Ph#:
Contact e-mail:
Date of your RUG/LUG Meeting(s)
Average number of Attendees:

IDUG Headquarters will then arrange for delivery.

IDUG Thanks you for your support and participation in this effort!!

2006-03-15T08:44:00.000-05:00

IMPORTANT REMINDER!
April 7th is the deadline for the Early Bird Discount and the last day to register for the Free Registration Raffle. Don't miss this opportunity!

2006-03-10T16:48:00.000-05:00

Tips to navigate through the NEW IDUG Conferences Website.
IDUG 2006 North America Conference homepage:
[http://w3.idug.org/na]

IDUG 2006 North America Registration Page:
[http://w3.idug.org/na] >Registration

IDUG 2006 North America RUG/LUG Savings Certificate:
[http://w3.idug.org/na] >Networking > RUG & LUG Information (savings
certifcate[link])

OR

IDUG 2006 North America RUG/LUG Savings Certificate:
[http://w3.idug.org/na] >Registration (savings certifcate[link])

IDUG 2006 North America Free Registration Raffle:
[http://w3.idug.org/na] >Free Registration Raffle!

2006-03-10T16:45:00.000-05:00

IDUG 2006: Early-Bird Registration and RUG/LUG Savings Certificate

Register before April 7th, 2006 and save $145 on your registration fee!
Register Now!!!

RUG and LUG members are eligible for an additional $50 discount on the regular registration rate for IDUG 2006 - North America. Download the savings certificate to take advantage of this special benefit exclusively for RUG and LUG members.

Try your luck! Enter to Win a FREE full-week registration to attend IDUG
2006 North America.
Should the winner of the FREE full-week registration have already registered for the conference, any registration fees received by IDUG will be refunded. No cash substitutions.

2006-03-07T13:58:00.000-05:00

Today is an Exciting day!!!!

We have launched the New and Improved "IDUG Conferences Website"! IDUG Headquarters and all of the IDUG Volunteers have work extremely hard to develop a site geared with you in mind. It is more contemporary and easier to navigate. You can find MORE conference information in fewer key stokes and mouse clicks. [http://conferences.idug.org/]
Visit the IDUG 2006 North America area for all information about IDUG 2006– North America, May 7-11, 2006, Tampa, Florida, USA [http://w3.idug.org/na]

Visit the "For Attendees" Tab for information on Sessions that are specific to your Topics of Interest. These topics of interest include:
DBA's of DB2 for LUW
DBA's of DB2 for Z/OS
Data Architecture
Informix Techmnology
New Users
IT managers
..and more

Go Further...with DB2 and Informix. Plan on attending the IDUG 2006 North America Conference-Tampa, FL-May 7-11, 2006 Visit http://www.idug.org/ for details.

2006-02-15T11:53:00.000-05:00

Do you think IDUG is just for DB2 Professionals?

Well, think again...we also have an extensive technical program for Informix professionals, too!

What have Informix attendees said about the conference in the past?
Here are just a few....

I just wanted to send you an email to say how much that I enjoyed the conference. The sessions were amazing. The thing that I liked about the sessions was that it was purely technical, and not marketing related. I learned more in the last week than I have in any other time in my Informix career. The conference was truly worthwhile from a learning perspective, and I had no problem justifying the cost of the conference to my bosses.
Thanks,
Matthew Elders
Hastings Entertainment
Database Administrator

I wanted to take the time to say "Thank You" to the entire team that put on the IIUG portion of the conference. I've told my boss that I learned so much new information as a DBA that I have more action and idea items to implement once I get back into the office tomorrow! I hope IIUG will continue to be involved at future IDUG events as I will see benefits to the growing Informix user community. With anticipated growth with new Web Sphere sales mixed with the OLTP running on Linux as IBM is now marketing IDS, I envision that at Next year's conference there may be a new set of basic Linux IDS DBA classes that could be taught by the more experienced DBAs. I hope more of us our using 9.4 and/or 10.0 by that time and we can share again real world experiences with these newer releases of the product (like configurable page sizes).
Thank you again to you and all of the board members and IBM staff that made this IIUG conference wonderful!
Danny Santee
City of Aurora
IT Dept - Sr. Database Administrator

I think the organization and execution were top notch. I didn't experience any glitches. It was great for me to meet some of the Informix "legends"
that I hadn't met face to face before. I had not heard about IBM's "new"
stance on Informix: trying to get new ISVs. Great to see they switched from "don't build new applications on Informix." Was pleasantly surprised by Janet's frequent references to Informix. The technology is moving forward very nicely.
Sean Durity
CornerCap Investments
Atlanta, GA

2006-02-14T12:08:00.000-05:00

IDUG 2006 - North America
Includes Informix content
- a few little-known facts -

Did you know that at IDUG 2006 – North America/IIUG you can …

Go Further with In-depth training beyond the normal classroom experience!

6 half-day educational seminars on the most useful Informix topics
Network directly with IBM Informix developers at the “Meet the Speakers/IBM Developers” reception, Special Interest Groups, IBM panels, User Feedback Opportunities and informally throughout the week. Who knows the product better than those developing it?
2 Special Interest Group sessions focused on hot Informix topics
8 User Feedback Opportunity Sessions (UFO’s) on current and future Informix issues
A total of over 100 hours of technical Informix training offered over a 5 day period
An Informix spotlight session
A panel session comprised of leading Informix experts
Free Informix certification exams

Go Further with sessions By Users, For Users!

18 sessions offered by user speakers, just like you, who work with Informix everyday
ALL sessions selected by an independent, volunteer committee of Informix users
A view from the trenches - come find out how it really works (not how it is supposed to work)

Go Further because IDUG 2006 – North America/IIUG is NOT just for DBAs, because it includes Informix Application Developer Sessions!

10 sessions on the latest (or yet-to-be-released) versions of Informix
Informix Developer sessions on Java, PHP, Perl, etc.

Go Further with the best of Informix on Linux, Unix and Windows and cross-platform sessions!

A Special Interest Group dedicated to Informix on Linux
Exhibitors who promote and develop products for Informix on Linux, Unix and Windows

2006-02-08T15:02:00.000-05:00

An IDUG presentation – from conception to delivery
By Suresh Sane
IDUG 2006 NA Presentations Team Lead

Introduction

Ever wonder what happens behind scenes from the time a technical session is conceived till it is presented? There are hours of work by various parties that culminate in the 70 minutes you are aware of as an attendee.

This note provides a brief explanation of this process emphasizing how IDUG is a user-run organization for users of DB2.

Abstracts

The process begins with you responding to a call-for-presentations (CFP) posted by IDUG. We solicit abstracts that provide us the topic, the key points, outline of the presentations as well information about your background. Typically the cut-off for submission is in October of the previous year (October 2006 for IDUG 2007). The CFP outlines the types of abstract sought. If you are a user, your “from-the-trenches” experience of working with DB2 is as valuable as the experience IBM, vendors and consultants bring to the conference. The abstract is brief (takes 10 minutes to complete).

Selection

The conference planning committee (CPC) is made up of user volunteers from organizations like yours that use DB2 every day. Typically, we receive several hundred abstracts. All of us on the CPC independently rank each abstract - IBM and vendor liaisons on the CPC play an advisory role only.

The Presentations Team Lead proposes a first-cut line-up (we call it the “grid”). This is debated (very vigorously at times!) by the entire CPC over a weekend meeting in October. We strive for the best mix of presentations taking into account the topic, platform, speaker category (user, IBM, vendor, consultant) catering to a diverse mix of attendees. The grid is lined up in 10 columns; each column is a “thread” and is managed by one person from the CPC, called the Thread Chair.

Role of Thread Chair

Your thread chair is your point of contact for all IDUG-related activities. The thread chair ensures the timelines are met, the material meets the professional standards IDUG sets and to work with you to resolve any issues.

Draft Presentation

A draft of your presentation is typically due in February. This allows the Thread Chair to review it for accuracy, formatting and proper branding. In some cases, we may ask IBM to review it also.

Final Presentation

A final copy of your presentation is typically due in March. One final review is done at this time.

CD

A copy of your presentation is available on CD for attendees to review when they are back at work. The notes are especially useful for someone who did not attend the session.

D-day

You deliver your presentation in the assigned slot. Your thread chair, as well as a moderator, is always there to deal with any logistics issues. Attendees may contact you offline if they wish to obtain further details that you want to share with them.

Speaker Evaluations

Attendees at your session provide feedback on the quality of your presentation. The Top 10 Users and Top 10 Overall are honored at the closing ceremony. Some highly-rated user sessions may also be asked to repeat their sessions as “Premier Speaker” –typically on the last day of the conference.

Interested in speaking or volunteering?

Sounds interesting? What are you waiting for? Start thinking of a topic and submit an abstract as soon as the call-for-presentations is live. Never presented before? No problem! We are always looking for new speakers that bring new ideas. Interested in volunteering? Contact us or look us up at the conference. Remember the U in IDUG is USER! Get involved – this is YOUR conference!

2006-02-06T15:09:00.000-05:00

What have IDUG attendees said about the conference in the past?
Here are just a few....

"My first ever conference experience showed me what I missed all these years. There were tremendous networking opportunities. Also, the topics/presentations that were offered at the conference, made me want to attend every presentation."

"Favero's DSNZPARM is a perfect example of a good technical session which can be brought home, applied and show ROI to management."

"I learned the basics of implementing RLF which I believe will save my shop a considerable amount of CPU."
"Several sessions gave me some good information on DB2 tuning that should help significantly on resources and cost to our customers."

"There were sessions where I recorded actions that I plan to do at work to improve performance or work methods. Also meeting people and talking about products, situations, etc. was valuable now and will be in the future."

See more at testimonials in the Justification Kit.

2006-02-06T14:56:00.000-05:00

Need Justification for Attending?
View our extensive Justification Kit for assistance in justifying attendance. This kit includes excellent tips on how to justify attendance. In addition you will find extensive attendee testimonials and a customizable letter for your manager regarding travel expenses. Take advantage of these tools to justify your attendance at the leading, customer-driven DB2 and Informix conference: IDUG 2006 - North America.

2006-02-06T14:20:00.000-05:00

Did you know that at IDUG you can …

Go Further with In-depth training beyond the normal classroom experience!

10 full day educational seminars on the most important DB2 topics.
6 half day educational seminars on the most important Informix topics
Crème-de-la-crème – 54 sessions offered straight from IBM speakers, 31 from top industry consultants and vendors.
New this year! – a “thread” completely dedicated to Technical Product Presentations – from vendors of DB2 tools, explaining how best to exploit them with no marketing!
Network directly with IBM DB2 developers at the “Meet the Speakers/IBM Developers” reception, Special Interest Groups, IBM panels and informally throughout the week. Who knows the product better than those developing it?
Double length sessions to provide more thorough topic coverage
15 Special Interest Group sessions focused on hot DB2 topics
A total of over 230 hours of technical DB2 training offered over a 5 day period
4 DB2 spotlight sessions delivered by some of the most forward thinking minds at IBM.
2 Panel sessions comprised of IBM’s top DB2 experts
Free DB2 Certification exams

Go Further with sessions By Users, For Users!

44 sessions offered by user speakers, just like you, that work with DB2 everyday
ALL sessions selected by an independent, volunteer committee of DB2 users
A view from the trenches - come find out how it really works (not how it is supposed to work)

Go Further because IDUG is NOT just for DBAs!

51% of IDUG 2005 attendees worked in fields other than database administration
Application programmers, System programmers, Data Architects and Managers have access to over 30 hours of technical training
In addition to numerous sessions for the DBA, 38 sessions for application developers and 61 for systems programmers
16 sessions on emerging technologies like Java, Websphere, XML and SOA
59 sessions on system and application performance
25 sessions on latest (or yet-to-be-released) versions of DB2

Go Further with the best of DB2 on Linux, Unix and Windows and cross-platform sessions!

63 technical sessions offered on DB2 Linux, Unix and windows (or cross platform)
5 Special Interest Groups dedicated to Linux, Unix and Windows
10 sessions with the latest information on the new VIPER release of DB2
5 full-day Educational seminars dealing with Linux, Unix and Windows
IDUG 2004 hosted the announcement of the DB2 Stinger release
An entire panel session dedicated to Linux, Unix and Windows topics
Dozens of exhibitors that promote and develop products for DB2 on Linux, Unix and Windows

2006-02-03T08:33:00.000-05:00

A Message from the IDUG North America Conference Planning Committee
The IDUG 2006 North American Conference planning is well underway. We are excited to be offering another quality conference that will feature informative presentations from DB2 professionals from around the world.