Western User Groups Attempting A Comeback

June 22, 2015 Dan Burger

Here it is, the top three things most unlikely to be seen in the IBM midrange community: Frank Soltis wearing a beanie with a propeller on top; Big Blue handing over IBM i to the open source community; and a freshly minted IBM i user group. The first two are pretty much out of the question, but the last scenario, I’m here to tell you, is happening not once, not twice, but three times. And you thought pigs would fly before a new local user group would put out a welcome mat.

We don’t keep birth rate statistics on IBM i or Power Systems user groups, but I’m fairly certain we haven’t seen this occur in the current century. Meanwhile, the grim reaper has paid a visit to at least a half dozen local user groups (LUGs) that died of malnutrition.

What brings the reversal of fortune? Maybe the recognition that good old-fashioned face-to-face networking is too valuable to summarily discard and the best way to be professional is to associate with professionals. Could it be that businesses, organizations, and individuals gain from the support of like-minded professionals who see the value in partnering with one another and perhaps join forces to collaborate on projects?

“We’re open to all persuasions of Power Systems people,” says Tony Leach, a programmer/system analyst for SierraPine, a Sacramento-based manufacturer and distributor of composite wood panels. Leach is stirring up interest in a new user group in his area. It won’t be the first time. When the last IBM midrange user group was stationed in Sacramento, Leach was not only onboard, but he also captained that ship. Now he believes the user group has a better chance of survival if AIX and Linux professionals join IBM i professionals in a setting where common interest in IBM Power Systems can be discussed.

The Sacramento user group had its first meeting last week. Leach said 18 were registered, but only 12 attended. Leach, however, remains optimistic that the number will increase as word gets out that the group is planning another meeting in September. His contact list for the meeting last week was only 50 people and Leach is working to significantly expand that list.

IBMer Curt Hansen, helped pull together this first meeting been by bringing in two well-known IBM i experts. Mark Ruberry, an IBM client technical specialist who has frequently made user group presentations on Power Systems technology, was one of the speakers. Tim Rowe, the IBM i business architect for application development and systems management, was the other. Hansen also set up the meeting room facility at IBM’s offices.

Leach says if the fall meeting shows promise, there could be another meeting before the end of the year. Or depending on the feedback (or lack of feedback), the plan will be to continue meetings in 2016.

In the short term, Leach hopes the area could support quarterly on-site meetings and possibly a few virtual meetings.

The first meeting of the Reno and Sparks, Nevada, user group is scheduled for June 25. Leading the efforts in that location is Matt Booher, president of Wis:Dom Information Systems, a software and services company specializing in warehouse management and logistics.

The Reno meeting features PHP on IBM i expert Mike Pavlak of Zend Technologies. Pavlak is presenting two sessions. The first is a pertains to implementing new solutions without disturbing the existing application set and the second examines several examples PHP scripts and the use the Open Source Toolkit to access RPG business logic.

The meeting is being held at the offices of the Economic Development Authority of Western Nevada. Attendees are asked to pre-register at this website.

User groups previously existed in both Reno and Sacramento, but they faded away several years ago.

In the San Francisco Bay area, the revitalization of an IBM i user group is not as far along as Sacramento and Reno.

Chris Adair, a programmer/analyst at Valent, is carrying the torch. Adair relocated to Northern California several years ago from the Dallas/Fort Worth area, where he served on the Metro Midrange user group board of directors.

Like the other user group start-ups, Adair is looking for help to better reach the IBM i shops that could benefit from a local user group.

To get some interest built while keeping it simple to participate, Adair thinks physical meetings will most likely be two to four times a year. “I have a gut feeling that virtual is the way this may go, at least in the beginning,” he says.

I’m just thinking out loud here, but it seems that IBM and COMMON could both help spread the word on all three of these user groups. The number of IBM i shops in any of these metro areas should not be a secret, but apparently it is.

One source of assistance to each of these groups has been the OCEAN user group based in Orange County, California. It is sharing materials from presentations at OCEAN meetings to demonstrate the value of a user group and has extended an invitation to Sacramento, Reno, and the Bay Area groups to connect to OCEAN resources.

“My next step is to put a presentation together on debugging that I did back in Dallas,” Adair says. “I’d like to get COMMON to host it as a webinar and see how many people from this area we can get to sign up and attend. This would help me let people know that a user group is being formed in the area. Maybe Sacramento and Reno would join in on a webinar like this and have their own virtual meetings.”

“I think virtual meetings are a great alternative for user groups,” says Margaret Matthews, president of the OCEAN user group, “but I still think it enhances the experience when the group gets together as often as possible. Quarterly or even annually is better than not getting together at all. Some OCEAN members only attend the annual tech conference. And if that’s what they are able to do, I think that’s great.”

OCEAN is also extending to the members of these new user groups the benefit its own members enjoy with regard to participating in webinars or remote presentations given by IBM i experts. OCEAN has experimented with virtual meetings supplementing its regularly monthly meetings, which allows members who can’t attend in person to still receive the educational benefit via the internet. A recent session on open source programming languages by Aaron Bartell is available from a link on the OCEAN website. And a webinar presented by IBM’s RPG expert Barbara Morris to the OCEAN user group soon will be available as a link from the OCEAN website.

OCEAN is one of the largest local user groups in the U.S. Its annual tech conference, which is scheduled July 17, features Steve Will, Dawn May, Tony Cairns, and other IBMers as well as many other top-notch expert speakers. Approximately 40 sessions are on the agenda for Friday, July 17, with additional lab sessions and workshops scheduled for Saturday, July 18. Session details, the speaker list, and registration can be found on the OCEAN website. The member discount to the tech conference has been offered to members of the new user groups in Sacramento, Reno, and the San Francisco Bay Area.

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