Educational Grants for RPG & DB2 Summit Available, but Time Is Short

Published: March 8, 2010

by Dan Burger

Like crows sitting on a fence, unemployed RPG programmers are waiting for a breeze to stir. It's a tough job market. You don't need this publication to break that news. But tough times call for equally tough measures. I continue to hear companies say they can't find the IBM i talent they are looking for. And I hear people saying those companies are just being too cotton-pickin' picky.

But this prickly employment desert that is perfect for picky employers, may be cause to take this Smarter Planet idea personally. If you have skills and time to invest in refining them into something beyond the ordinary, here's a way to get off the fence and put some distinction on your resume that might move you from the picked over category and onto the pick me list.

"We're concerned about the large number of unemployed developers out there who are finding it a challenge to upgrade their skills, just when their skills need to be at their most marketable," explains Susan Gantner, System i Developer partner and founder of Education for Developers in Transition (EDiT).

System i Developer, as you may know, is the company behind the RPG & DB2 Summit conferences that occur twice each year. The three-day conference (next one coming up March 23 through 25) covers practical, in-depth, use-it-today tips and techniques on topics ranging from RPG IV and SQL to modernizing program architecture and user interfaces.

Like most conferences, it costs money to register and attend. Most participants are sent by the companies they work for. So EDiT was set up to benefit those not employed. The offer is education and training in exchange for working at the conference. Twelve work-study grants are being awarded for the upcoming Summit.

Two developers will be selected as room monitors in exchange for full conference registration, and an additional 10 developers will be selected to attend a half-day Headstart Seminar of their choice. The conference is taking place in Fort Worth, Texas, at the Sheraton Fort Worth Hotel and Spa.

Developers selected as room monitors will help the SiD staff and conference speakers by distributing handouts, tracking session attendance, helping with registration, and providing other assistance as needed. In exchange for this help, they will receive a Summit registration, including attendance at conference sessions, meals, handouts, and evening events.

Recipients of the EDiT Headstart Seminar grant can attend, at no charge, one of four half-day seminars scheduled for March 22.

All work/study grant recipients will be responsible for their own travel and hotel expenses.

The Headstart Seminars include: PHP for RPG Developers with Jon Paris; SQL: Beyond the Basics with Skip Marchesani; HTML/Javascript/CSS for RPG Developers with Paul Tuohy; and From Subroutines to Subprocedures & Service Programs with Susan Gantner.

The application deadline for EDiT grants is Thursday, March 11. Not much time, but worth the effort.

Details on the grants, including qualification criteria and how to apply, can be found at http://www.systemideveloper.com/EDiT.html.

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