SHARE Conference Trivia

SHARE Washington, D.C. is all wrapped up but we thought we’d devote a Trivia quiz to the SHARE conference—one of the longest-running (70 years!) and most influential gatherings for mainframe professionals. Originally founded as a user group for organizations that use IBM mainframe computers, SHARE has evolved into a major educational and networking event for enterprise IT professionals.

If you’ve ever attended, you’ll know that SHARE provides invaluable opportunities for mainframe professionals to network, learn, and collaborate on cutting-edge enterprise IT topics. Combining technical training, hands-on labs, and expert-led sessions with direct access to industry leaders, IBM experts, and peers, SHARE has become a hub for knowledge exchange and professional growth.

Take our quiz and see how much you know about SHARE’s history!

1. In what year was the SHARE Conference founded?

 1965

 1955

 1970

 1980

2. Who were two key founders of SHARE?

 Howard Bromberg and Al G. Smith

 Gene Amdahl and George Boole

 John von Neumann and Charles Babbage

 Alan Turing and Thomas Watson

3. What was the primary reason for the founding of SHARE?

 To promote IBM’s latest products

 To allow IBM users to exchange knowledge and best practices

 To create a trade show for mainframe hardware

 To train government employees in computing

4. The first SHARE meeting was held in which city?

 Chicago, IL

 New York, NY

 Los Angeles, CA

 Washington, D.C.

5. Which IBM mainframe system played a significant role in SHARE’s early years?

 IBM Z15

 IBM Power Systems

 IBM AS/400

 IBM System/360

6. What was the registration fee for the conference in 1970?

 $10

 $20

 $25

 $30

7. In recent years, SHARE has focused on the intersection of mainframes and which technology?

 Blockchain

 Artificial Intelligence (AI)

 Quantum computing

 Virtual reality

8. How does SHARE contribute to the modernization of legacy applications?

 By discouraging changes to legacy code

 By removing mainframes from IT infrastructures

 By focusing only on COBOL programming

 By offering training on DevOps and hybrid cloud integration

9. What was a major focus of SHARE in the 2010s regarding mainframe development?

 Removing support for COBOL

 Transitioning mainframes to personal computing platforms

 Implementing DevOps methodologies on IBM Z

 Shutting down legacy systems in favor of cloud-only infrastructure

10. Which of the following best describes SHARE’s ongoing mission?

 Supporting enterprise IT professionals through education and collaboration

 Promoting the decommissioning of mainframes

 Restricting mainframe knowledge to a small group of experts

 Replacing IBM mainframes with open-source alternatives

 Loading …