Toronto Tech Conference An Educational Achievement
March 25, 2013 Dan Burger
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Successful IBM i tech conferences depend on a couple of key performance indicators. First of all, there has to be attention to the right topics and speakers and secondly there must be a core group of volunteers who are dedicated to getting the conference done right. The Toronto User Group (TUG) consistently scores high with its annual Technical Education Conference (TEC), which this year is scheduled for April 25 and 26 in Toronto. There are good reasons for this. The user group has education professionals that are prominent and they put an emphasis on education that is evident with the Night School program they have had in place for some time. There’s also the close connection with the nearby IBM Toronto Labs, which adds resources and personnel–maybe not as much as it once did, but it is still a positive factor in TUG operations. There are six educational tracks each with eight or nine sessions. The tracks are performance management, RPG application development, application modernization, accessing and optimizing data, and system administration and management. There’s also a bonus track with a variety of session topics that allows attendees to have additional options when filling in schedules. The session grid with access to session abstracts is posted online. The speaker list includes subject matter experts that have earned reputations for teaching and presentation excellence: Susan Gantner, Jon Paris, Bob Cozzi, Larry Bolhuis, Charles Guarino, Rob Bestgen, Barbara Morris, Dawn May, and others. The keynote speaker, chief architect for the IBM i operating system Steve Will, is the most sought-after IBM i executives for briefings and events. Will has a wealth of experience working on the IBM midrange platform and is currently responsible for setting the strategy of the IBM i operating system, as well as deciding which enhancements will be implemented. His insights include perspectives formed by discussions with many IBM i clients and partners. TEC 2013 takes place at an excellent facility: Seneca@York University. Registration fees are $695 for TUG members and $795 for non-members. A one-day vendor exposition will be held April 25. For more information, see the Toronto User Group for Power Systems website. RELATED STORIES Toronto Night School Plugged into IBM i LUG TUG Night School Matches Enthusiasm with Capability COMMON Hopes Everything Is Bigger in Texas
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