The Virtual Db2 user group launches in January with a presentation on the 17th from Craig S Mullins, President & Principal Consultant at Mullins Consulting Inc. And being a virtual meeting, you don’t have to face the hard task of convincing your company to fund your user group experience. The meeting is online, and the Zoom registration link for this meeting will be published soon. All meetings are free to members. To become a member, go to https://itech-ed.com/virtualdb2/register.htm and register.
The Virtual Db2 user group will operate in the same way as its sister groups, the Virtual IMS user group and the Virtual CICS user group. The IMS group has been in existence since 2007, and the CICS user group started in 2011. They meet six times a year, always on a Tuesday, when a topic expert will give a presentation. In the months when there is no meeting, a group newsletter is sent out to members. The websites are kept up to date with the latest product news, and also links to the latest relevant articles and blogs.
Details about future meetings will appear on the website, and there’s also a Twitter feed, a Facebook page, and a LinkedIn group. So, for the new Virtual Db2 user group, the website is itech-ed.com/virtualdb2, the Twitter feed is @VirtualDb2, the Facebook page is facebook.com/virtualdb2/, and the LinkedIn group is: linkedin.com/groups/12717787/. These also keep people up-to-date with what’s happening in the world of Db2 and on the user group web site.
Chair of the Virtual Db2 user group, Trevor Eddolls, says, “We anticipate that the Virtual Db2 user group will be as well received by Db2 professionals as the Virtual IMS and Virtual CICS user groups have been. The Virtual IMS user group has well over 600 members, and the Virtual CICS user group has over 700. We usually get between 40 and 60 people attending meetings. And all meetings are recorded. So, people who miss the meeting, for whatever reason, can watch the YouTube videos and catch up. We expect the Virtual Db2 group to work in exactly the same way.”
Since the pandemic started, people have become very familiar with using Zoom, and so we use that platform for our meetings. It works well on the day, and produces a recording of the meeting. Our speakers all seem to be very familiar with it too. So, they find it easy to use, and the technology doesn’t get in the way of them giving their presentation.
The reason that the user groups can be free to their members is that they are sponsored by vendors, who understand the importance of supporting the user communities that buy, or might buy their products. It’s important to keep that user community in touch with the latest developments in technology, such as using Ansible or Zowe, as well as keeping people aware of the latest updates to, perhaps, more familiar products. Anything that makes the life of users easier has got to be welcomed.
While the user groups may lack the ability to hold impromptu chats with fellow system specialists, Zoom does allow people to ask questions, and chat with other individuals in the meeting or everyone in the meeting using the ‘Chat’ facility.
Meetings start at 10:30am Central Time, which is 4:30pm UK time and 5:30pm Central European Time. The meetings usually last for around an hour. Copies of the presenters’ slides are usually available to download from the website later that same day.
We are hoping that as many Db2 professional as possible will have signed up before the New Year, so that we have a big audience for our first meeting on the 17 January. The following two dates for your diary are 21 March and 23 May. You can join the new user group at https://itech-ed.com/virtualdb2/register.htm.