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The Odyssey Con
TEC 2010 Update
By Mark Buchner
TEC is the annual Technical
Education Conference for IBM
Power Systems users organized
by the Toronto Users Group for
Power Systems (TUG). For 2010, TEC
is being conducted in a brand new format
which promises far greater variety and
subjects of interest as well as an opportunity
for hands-on learning experiences and
greater interaction with industry peers. It
takes place in a high-tech university style
environment instead of a traditional hotel.
We are aiming this squarely at developers
and systems administrators engaged with
IBM Systems, including: i, AIX, Linux,
and BladeCenter.
Why TEC 2010?
Increase your technical vitality: Use hot new
technologies that the market wants. Put your career
on track next decade: Understand new technologies
that add business value. Enhance your market value:
Network with peers, industry leaders, and academia.
The first two days of our conference
will feature nine subject tracks at York
University (Seneca@ York and Schulich
School of Business). There is a mixture of
“main tent”, lecture and hands-on sessions.
We are featuring Open Source technology
with emphasis on PHP, MYSQL and
SugarCRM, as well as mobile development
for RIM Blackberries. Of course, we
have added all of the latest in Power 7
announcements, Rational products, Web
16
Middleware, and application development
issues, IBM i and AIX updates, as well as
traditional RPG, DB2 and SQL topics.
We also have identified a set of practical
introductory sessions to help some folks
become acquainted with select new
technologies, without fear of asking
“embarrassing” questions. The Schulich
School of Business is right next door and
we have made arrangements to host private
dining room executive meetings for special
interests. This is meant to help align the IT
and LOB folks within our user community.
The third day is held at the IBM Canada
Lab and will feature “hands-on” open labs,
including the newest releases and products.
TEC 2010 represents a novel approach to
technical conferences and will set the pace
for the next decade. We recognize budgets
cuts, travel cuts, and strong economic pressure,
but realize that IT is not the problem;
but rather, part of the solution. We aim to
provide a deeply meaningful forum that
will increase the technical vitality and market
value of the participants while helping
navigate through technical choices that affect
your career. Those RPG and CL skills
may not be enough to keep your job and
business going another ten years! We will
also begin the process of building a new
brand for our
TEC conference,
to align with the
news of all IBM
Power Systems users,
operators, and
developers across
Canada and parts
of the USA close
to Toronto.
Mark Buchner
Academic Involvement
TEC 2010 will showcase close industry/
academic links with colleges and
universities. The event is being conducted
in cooperation with Seneca College and
York University.
The following are highlights of this
cooperation:
• Because of Seneca’s excellent facilities
and availability of IBM equipment
and labs, we will feature numerous
hands-on and jam session to
provide attendees a greater feel for
technologies and products. We can
easily scale these to match interest.
• We will feature novice, intermediate
and advanced sessions—and not just
ones oriented at selling new IBM
products.
• We will feature greater cooperation of
colleges and users groups, and include
student volunteers, lab coordinators,
session administrators, as well as
selected sessions for interested faculty
and students.
• We will include new tracks and
sessions, based on TUG market
research, which are highly marketoriented
but equally interesting to
the academic environment. This
TORONTO USERS GROUP for Power Systems – January 2010