President's Message By Don Rima

Well, if you missed April’s meeting, you missed a great how-to on LPAR. The handout and config walk through was really a good working tool to have handy.

Secret, secret, who’s got the secret…. Well, the secret’s finally official. V5R2 is out or at least announced, and, this month we’re really lucky to have IBM’s Greg Steck giving us a first hand look at what’s inside V5R2.

I would urge you to get your reservation in EARLY as this announcement meeting is going out to most of the IBM shops in the DC/MD/VA area so that they can also sit in on the meeting. I expect this to be a very heavily attended meeting by both members and non-members alike. And, since we want to make sure that there’s enough seats and muchies for all, we need to make sure we have our reservations in early.

In this month’s newsletter we’re introducing a update from COMMON. From time to time, I’ll be encluding the latest from COMMON and from the conference so that those that couldn’t attend can keep aware of what’s going on.

See all of you at the May WAM, V5R2 Announcement Meeting!

COMMON Corner

The April 14-18 Nashville Conference, one of COMMON’s semi-annual events, provided more than 720 education and training sessions, including 120 new courses. Session topics included Java, VPN, Client Access, Server Consolidation, RPG, CODE/400, Linux, iSeries-AS/400 security, and much more.

If you were unable to attend, perhaps you’re considering going to COMMON’s Fall Conference, October 13-17 in Denver. Here are some of the highlights of Nashville:

Opening Session

COMMON President Charlie Massoglia kicked off Nashville’s Opening Session on Sunday. Charlie outlined new initiatives that were put in place for the Nashville event, including:

• Addition of the Tuesday night Awards Banquet. It turned out to be the largest dinner in COMMON’s 42-year history. Over 1,200 people dined together!
• Expansion of WebSphere training, because COMMON keeps up with the industry trends. (And oftentimes we’re ahead.)
• Introduction of the online Speakers Bureau – a directory of industry presenters.

• Converting session handouts to CD-ROM electronic files.
• Hosting an IT Managers Mini-Conference in Denver.
• Expanding training by involving more Application Software Providers (ASPs).

The new iSeries wireless computing sessions took many professionals where they had never gone before – a world without wires. Students took numerous wireless sessions and experienced wireless connectivity firsthand in a lab.

Also, hundreds of attendees experienced mega-fast wireless Internet access on their laptops and hand-held devices…

Expanded Open Labs

With Open Labs, participants attend sessions convenient to their schedule and work at their own pace. Examples of new Open Labs included “Linux on iSeries,” and “Client Access Express for Windows Programming Tools.” Other well-attended labs were “Notes/Domino, E-Collaboration & More,” and “Get Your ‘Hands-On’ the iSeries Relational Database (DB2 UDB).”

COMMON User Discussion Socials (CUDS)

CUDS are fun gatherings in the evening hours, and they were more popular than ever. The schedule added a Sunday CUDS that filled the room. Wednesday’s “Ask the Experts” featured 45 specialists sharing their knowledge with attendees, and it attracted hundreds of people.

iSeries Nation Town Hall Meeting

Buell Duncan, General Manager, IBM eServer iSeries, emceed the semi-annual and popular iSeries Nation gathering. Duncan noted, “There is no more important meeting that we go to than COMMON, because it’s all about listening to customers.” Duncan also said, “We will continue to invest in the iSeries now and for the next many years.”

Duncan then introduced Kim Stevenson, Vice President, IBM eServer iSeries Marketing Operations, to talk about V5R2. “This release is about enterprise management made simple,” said Stevenson. “We’re in an environment where costs are under more scrutiny. Productivity enhancements are required. Everything we put into the content of this release is about making it easier and less expensive to operate.”

And as usual, Soundoff was as active as ever, with IBM’s need for iSeries Marketing presence leading the pack. Special recognition was given to Anne Lucas for her work with iSeries Nation.

Awards Banquet: A big first for COMMON!

At the banquet, Charlie presented Gold, Silver and Bronze Awards for speaker excellence. He also presented COMMON’s Distinguished Service Awards to Chuck Stupca of IBM and Donald K. Uriu of Shibata Flora Company. In addition, Charlie gave the President’s Award to Greg Gallas of IBM.

Following the awards, Amanda Gore, a physiotherapist and popular Australian speaker, delivered a high-energy presentation entitled “Building Corporate Communities.” Gore showed the audience the importance of team spirit, fun, and positive interaction. Now, for those that haven’t been to COMMON in a while, this was a really interesting break from the norm. People were laughing and dancing in the aisles. It was a really good evening.

Take a hike with us

COMMON is going to Denver, October 13-17. “Scaling the Mountain” is the theme, and it reflects the scalability of the iSeries platform – one of our key advantages. We hope you’ll take advantage of the education you’ll receive in Denver…learn more at www.common.org.

May 2002 Meeting

Tuesday May 21st, 2002
Holiday Inn on Hwy 1 & Beltway in College Park
6:00pm networking/cash bar 6:30pm Dinner 7:15pm Presentation