It's Training and Education Time: OCEAN Conference Set for June 30

Published: June 2, 2008

by Dan Burger

Career accomplishments don't just roll off the turnip truck while you're standing by the side of the road waiting for promotions and pay raises. People who work hard and work smart are usually the ones being rewarded. In most cases, those that succeed professionally actively seek education and training opportunities. In Southern California, one of those opportunities is right around the corner. At the end of June, the OCEAN User Group of Southern California hosts its annual technical conference featuring a full day of sessions specific to the new IBM Power Systems, System i, iSeries, and AS/400 business computing environment.

As has been the case for the past 14 years, this tech conference directs its educational emphasis on classes for both programmers and system administrators. However, this year the event has added an executive breakfast with a keynote address by Jeff Howard, the director of IBM Power Systems offerings. Howard leads the management team for Power Systems hardware and software. The breakfast keynote is exclusively for management-level personnel seeking to improve their understanding of virtualization on the Power Systems platform. As such, it is not open to Tech Conference attendees. IBM's Howard will also be making a keynote address for all conference attendees during lunch.

Thirty educational presentations will be presented in 75-minute sessions including multiple classes in such topics as RPG, Web development, security, infrastructure, integration, and optimization. A complete agenda and class schedule is available online at the OCEAN Tech Conference Web page, where the list of speakers, the registration form, and other details can also be found.

The OCEAN User Group Technical Conference is scheduled for Monday, June 30, at the Hyatt Regency Irvine in Irvine, California. The hotel provides a free shuttle service to nearby John Wayne Airport. Based on the past several tech conferences, attendance is expected to be approximately 300. Typical class size varies between 35 and 60. Registration fees are $275 for OCEAN members and $350 for non-members. User group membership fess are $80 per year for individuals and a $250-per-year fee for corporations includes up to five individuals.

The sessions begin at 8 a.m. and finish at 6 p.m. with two 30-minute breaks and a two-hour luncheon. In addition to Howard's lunchtime keynote address, a presentation will also be given by IBM's George Farr, the worldwide development product manager for tools and compilers for the System i platform at the Rational division. A vendor expo area featuring 33 companies is also included. A list of participating vendors can be accessed from the OCEAN User Group home page.

OCEAN is supported by more than 300 member companies.

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