IDUG 2022 EMEA conference is over - keep it going

"IDUG 2023 EMEA will be in"

The IDUG 2022 EMEA Db2 Tech Conference is over. What a week it was! Hard work, not much sleep, technical education, in-person networking, fun, and much more. After getting home, I needed two days and especially the nights to recharge, then the last week to reflect. Here are my random thoughts...

Db2 11.5.8 available

Just in time for the Db2 conference in Edinburgh, Scotland, the latest fixpack for Db2 11.5 (Linux, UNIX, Windows) was made available. You can read the highlights document which also covers some of the topics from the overview session.

Similar to previous conferences, most attendees feel home on the IBM mainframe and therefore were interested in getting insights into Db2 13 for z/OS. All sessions for both platforms were well-attended, including the early morning or late late afternoon sessions.

User conference

IDUG is the International Db2 User Group, by users and for users. It was great to see that there were many first time attendees in Edinburgh. A show of hands in the opening sessions gave an impressive indication - too many to quickly count. Even better, Erik Weyler, a first-timer, delivered the best (qualifying) user presentation with the title "COBOL abound". 

Erik Weyler honored as best user speaker

"Sharing is caring" they say. User conferences benefit from active users that share their experience and wisdom. Hence, I encourage everyone to submit session proposals for the upcoming conferences. A good way to practice and get feedback and a great opportunity to network are regional user groups (RUGs) for Db2. Most of them switched to virtual and hybrid formats due to the pandemic. Now, this opens up the option to participate even without travel.

I highly recommend to be on site from time to time to strengthen existing or establish new relationships and networks. Therefore, I enjoyed the time in Edinburgh with all the opportunities which conferences typically offer.

Next year in...

One of the most often heard question was about the venue for next year. As you can see from the picture on top, the venue has not been confirmed yet. However, there are already (still?) open positions to fill - check out the IDUG volunteer page.

Other questions were regarding how to download the presentations, whether and when recordings would be / are made available, or how to get tickets for the evening events.

With the IDUG 2022 EMEA conference over and some time passed, I am looking forward to the next regional Db2 user group meetings and the planning for the IDUG 2023 EMEA conference to start. I will keep you posted...

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