The Power Of Community At LISUG
February 26, 2024 Steven Wolk
Running an IBM i user group is hard work these days, but the team at the Long Island Systems User Group makes it look easy. Despite having seen their sister groups in New York and Connecticut fold and cease operations since COVID, LISUG not only stands as the last remaining group in the tri-state area – that is New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut – but has been growing and there’s no shortage of exciting initiatives underway.
What’s their secret? It’s the same basic formula, with a few twists – but it all starts with showcasing top quality speakers. In recent years they’ve hosted speakers representing a veritable who’s who in IBM i, including such well known-names as Steve Will, Alan Seiden, Scott Forstie, Scott Klement, Pete Massiello, Birgitta Hauser, and Liam Allan – all of whom have been great friends to LISUG over the years.
This semester alone, LISUG has featured IBM i product manager Doug Gibbs, distinguished engineer and Power processor chief architect Bill Starke, IBM software engineer and SQL performance expert Ryan Moeller, and the one and only Simon Hutchinson, and they are not letting up the pressure now, with a big finish planned for their big annual May event marking the end of their semester. . . but more on that later.
One of the big attractions at LISUG is their unique meeting format. Rather than just one presentation, LISUG makes an entire evening out of it. The meeting starts with a 45- to 60-minute pre-session topic. Then after an hour of networking, cocktails, and hors d’oeuvres, their host and emcee for the evening presents an interactive Q&A session while everyone enjoys a multi-course Italian dinner at their beautiful new venue, with their choice of entrees. Finally, it’s time for the main session while dessert is served. It’s truly like dinner and a show!
LISUG’s meetings are open to all, and while they love in-person attendees for the networking, their meetings are 100 percent open to virtual attendees as well – and typically garner a fairly large virtual audience, mostly from out-of-towners. LISUG is continuing to develop their online capabilities to make their virtual meetings as close to “being there” as is possible.
LISUG members love to have fun, and there’s no better example of this than their long standing holiday tradition, the Night of 1,000 Stars meeting! For their December meeting each year, rather than one or two speakers, they will feature a minimum of eight speakers from the talented LISUG membership, each presenting on a different topic for five to seven minutes. (Get it? Eight speakers = 1,000 in binary? Can’t say LISUG doesn’t know how to have fun!)
The topics can be technical, but don’t have to be. In fact, it’s usually the most offbeat topics that are the most popular! This semester’s Night of 1,000 Stars featured topics ranging from the reason exotic sports cars are fun but not reliable, to the best way to tie your shoes, to solving a Rubik’s Cube, to a live demo of all sorts of crazy kitchen gadgets! Combine that with the opportunity to win one or more of over 50 prizes given away that night, including a brand new Nintendo Switch, and you have the makings for a successful, fun, and action packed IBM i user group meeting!
Douglas Gibbs, IBM i product manager; Bill Starke, distinguished engineer and Power processor chief architect, and Steven Wolk, chief technology officer of PC Richard & Son.
Something new LISUG tried last year was working with local schools to create an internship program. They started slowly with one intern at first, but the program was so successful that they have expanded it to two interns, and LISUG has big plans to continue growing the program. LISUG’s board views it as a way to give back to the community, and help students jump start their careers. LISUG offers interns an opportunity to join a board of directors and understand how an organization operates, to learn professionalism and how to work in a team environment, plus exposure to the warm and welcoming IBM i community we’re all so proud of – potentially leading to a new career path after graduation. Interns are invited to join all meetings at no cost to them. In return, LISUG’s interns, working closely with their board of directors, have already achieved some notable milestones, including the launch of a brand new LISUG.org website that everyone at LISUG is extremely proud of. In addition, LISUG’s interns will be helping with social media marketing to help broaden LISUG’s reach and attract new members and attendees to their meetings.
LISUG has traditionally ended their semester in May, with a big annual full-day educational event. This year they’re raising the stakes, with a focus on a big topic: Artificial Intelligence. In an effort to broaden their audience, the day will feature multiple sessions on AI, presented by a number of different speakers, including a moderated dinner panel discussion with all the speakers. Most of the sessions will be targeted toward a general audience, but at least one will be tailored for IBM i professionals, showing a cookbook example of how to take advantage of AI on your IBM i. . . today! Who would be uniquely qualified to deliver such a presentation? Yes, IBM i’s own Mr. Open Source, Jesse Gorzinski, will be joining LISUG on site for the day, as one of their honored speakers!
IBM has been absolutely wonderful about supporting LISUG by providing top speakers, and the big May meeting will be no exception to that track record. Support like that from IBM represents just one more reason the folks at LISUG are such huge fans of IBM Power Systems, IBM i, and IBM Flash Systems Storage. It’s not just the technology platform and the community – the close relationship between IBM and its customers and supporters of this platform is truly unique in the industry and has enabled LISUG to serve its members for more than 40 years, and still going strong.
LISUG meets on Wednesday evenings, usually the third Wednesday of the month, from September through May of each year. All are welcome! If you find yourself on Long Island, please join them in person. If not, all are welcome to join virtually. For more information, please visit www.lisug.org.
Steven Wolk is chief technology officer of PC Richard & Son.
