I will be attending the IDUG DB2 Tech Conference – Anaheim, also known as IDUG NA 2011, in some weeks. There is a lot of DB2 content and many network opportunities there, and not to mention the great moments in company of new and old friends that I am looking forward to enjoy.
I have learned that to get the best value out of any IDUG conference, planning is very important. So this is planning time!
I start by defining my learning objectives for this conference: I am looking forward to get most of the DB2 for z/OS sessions, with a particular interest in DB2 10 for z/OS. I have been working recently with this new DB2 and this seems to me a very interesting edition. I am eager for any additional education related to 10.
I also promised myself to take the opportunity to attend sessions that are not directly related to my work or preferences. IDUG is all about DB2 anyway, and it will not harm anybody to expand his or her IT world perception, right?
The first step for me is to get the Conference Event Grid from http://bit.ly/1d4X3R. This is a colourful pdf containing the conference sessions schedule and other events. If you are used to the European version of the grid, you will notice that the sessions’ colours have not the same meaning: they identify at a glance the type of session rather than the speaker category:
- BLUE = Hands-on Lab
- ORANGE = DB2 for Linux, UNIX, Windows
- PURPLE = DB2 for z/OS
- GREEN = Cross Platform
- RED = Special Interest Groups (SIGs)
Below figure shows a portion of the grid while I was selecting what sessions to attend:
Also visit the Online Conference Schedule at http://bit.ly/g7DnTQ. This is a great source of information and complements very well the grid; here you can see the sessions’ details, abstracts and objectives. It helped me a lot during my selection exercise.
But there is a lot more educational and networking value to get advantage from. Susan Visser has a very interesting blog post that exposes all the learning and networking potential of the conference, a blog post not to be missed: “All about IDUG DB2 Tech Conference – Anaheim” at http://ibm.co/eaAWXZ.
Problems started soon: because the quality of the offering is so appealing to me, I am having a hard time deciding which sessions not to attend! (I wish I could be at two places at the same time, but bi-temporal support is not intended to solve this problem). Fortunately we will have access to the conference proceedings and I will be able to study the presentations that I will be missing anyway.
So my travel plan looks like:
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
- S01: DB2 10 Technical Overview / Jeff Josten
- B01: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Plan Management and Access Path Stability / Gerald Hodge
- B02: Mastering Distributed Access to DB2 for z/OS / Cristian Molaro. I must attend this one, otherwise I would take G02: DB2 LUW Security –What If Your Firewall Catches Fire? / Rebecca Bond
- B03: DB2 for z/OS: Availability Enhancements / Haakon Roberts
- F04: Database Performance Discoveries and Recommendations / Dave Beulke
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
- B05: The DB2 V10 Catalog – A Revolution / Steen Rasmussen
- B06: DB2 for z/OS Migration Planning Survival Guide / Linda Claussen
- F07: DB2 10 for z/OS – John Deere’s Beta Experience / Bryan Paulsen
- B08: Why Did the DB2 for z/OS Optimizer Choose that Access Path? / Terry Purcell
Thursday, May 5, 2011
- F09: The Importance of Being Consistent – DB2 for z/OS and Copy Services for IBM System z / Florence Dubois
- B10: DB2 10 for z/OS Planning and Very Early Experiences / John Campbell
- A11: A DB2 Hitchhikers Guide to RMF and SMF / Frank Petersen
- B12: Omegamon Performance Database (z/OS) – Exploit the Power of the PDB to Solve Performance Issues / Billy Sundarrajan
Friday, May 6, 2011
- B13: DB2 for z/OS Optimizer: What Have You Done for Me Lately? / Terry Purcell
- C14: Stuffed with Great Enhancements – New Features of DB2 9.7 Fix Packs / Melanie Stopfer
- G15: Monitoring and Troubleshooting Distributed Access to DB2 for z/OS / Cristian Molaro. I must attend this one, otherwise I would take B15: DB2 Design – Selected (Controversial?) Topics / Suresh Sane
This is my plan. Yours will vary of course based on your personal preferences and objectives. One of the greatest things about the IDUG Tech Conference is that there is value for everybody waiting to be enjoyed. Have a look at Rebecca Bond’s excellent and refreshing blog posts “IDUG NA – The Geeky Vacation!” at http://ibm.co/fbmAag and “Budgeting for IDUG North America conference as viewed by the DB2 Locksmith” at http://ibm.co/g3Yozr.
Bottom line: I strongly recommend that you take the time to prepare your IDUG DB2 Tech Conference experience in advance, there is a great DB2 offering waiting for you there.
Not attending Anaheim? Keep tuned for the IDUG DB2 Tech Conference in Prague, Czech Republic, 14-18 November 2011. We are working hard preparing a great EMEA Conference!
See you there! – Cristian Molaro
About Cristian Molaro
Cristian Molaro is an independent consultant and instructor based in Belgium. His main activity is linked to DB2 administration and performance.
He is an IBM Certified DBA and Application Developer for DB2 for z/OS V7, V8 and V9, and has been honored by IBM as an Information Champion in 2009,2010 and 2011. He is chairman of the DB2 LUW Regional User Group BeLux and member of the IDUG Europe 2011 Planning Committee. Cristian is co-author of five IBM Redbooks and several papers related to DB2. He holds a Chemical Engineer degree and a Master in Management Sciences. Cristian can be reached at cristian@molaro.be.
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