Modernize Your Skills at the Northeast Tech Conference
March 17, 2014 Dan Burger
|
IBM has its ongoing Global Skills Initiative. COMMON has its Annual Meeting and Exposition. You’ll find high-quality educational opportunities at each, but time and your training budget may not be on your side. For less time away from the office and a lower cost of registration, travel, and lodging–at least if you live in one of the New England states–the Northeast User Group Conference (NEUGC) is a training and education gold mine. It’s scheduled for April 7 through 9 in Framingham, Massachusetts. The IBM i running on Power Systems is a modern marvel compared to its predecessor machines: the IBM iSeries and the AS/400. Some of the RPG application developers and IBM i system administrators have kept their skills current, but many of them have fallen behind. Didn’t the owner’s manual tell you about tune-ups at 50,000 and 100,000 miles? For companies that are invested in the system, it’s time to invest in the people who run it. In terms of total cost of ownership, you’ll still be way ahead of the game. Newfound efficiencies will be the payback. And a skilled workforce is a far better investment than an education-starved staff. For the NEUGC, this is the 24th conference. That alone tells a story of competency and dedication. You don’t get this far by taking shortcuts and cutting corners. A great conference begins with great speakers–the industry pros who are subject matter experts, but are also excellent instructors. They make friends with the people who are eager to learn and they get results. These are people who are married to the i. I’m pretty sure that’s legal in Massachusetts, right? Here is a list of speakers, and if you don’t recognize at least 90 percent, you are not paying attention: Jon Paris, Susan Gantner, Scott Klement, Pete Massiello, Charles Guarino, Mike Pavlak, Gene Cobb, and Tim Rowe. And that’s only half the list. The entire lineup with background information is available at neugc.org. Also online is a complete conference agenda that includes the educational tracks–RPG and Programming Tools, SQL and Database, Systems Management, Web Development & Mobile Computing, and Professional Development–more than 70 sessions, the list of IBM i vendors in the expo area, plus information on COMMON certification and hotel accommodations. Tuesday night is casino night, which means there’ll be winners and losers. But at the end of this conference, everyone goes home a big winner. RELATED STORIES Problem Solved: IBM i Skills Initiatives Need Partners Free Format RPG: It’s All About the Jobs IBM Training: The New Plan Advances Industry-Driven Training Aims At Skills Gap Tech-Business Skills in Demand, Academic Initiative Expands
|
