|
In This Issue
|
 |
|
|
|
Quick Links
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Message from Tom Rosamilia
|
|
|
Dear WebSpherians,
We are emptying the IBM labs to bring you our top
developers, our leading architects, and our best
technical consultants - all in one location. As you have
heard, the IBM WebSphere Technical Exchange (WTE)
and IBM Transaction and Messaging (T&M)
conference have been combined to become IBM
Impact 2007, coming May 20-25 to Orlando . If you are
an alumnus of either conference, Impact 2007 will
have all the great technical education you have come
to expect from WTE and T&M, all in one location.
And, if you were planning to attend one of these
conferences for the first time, Impact 2007 is where
you want to be!
Impact 2007 is the year's best opportunity to sharpen
your WebSphere technical skills and help you stay on
top of your game through:
- Hands-on labs
- IBM product certification testing
- WebSphere product previews and planning
guidance
- CICS and Messaging product previews and
planning guidance
- Best practice recommendations from leading IBM
developers and services consultants
What will you learn? Here are a few highlights
from the more than 300 technical sessions:
- New features in WebSphere Application Server
V6.1 and beyond
- SOA Foundation through IBM Products and
Services, led by Rob High, IBM's Chief SOA Architect
- WebSphere Portal and open source initiatives in
collaborative technology
- What's new in XD 6.1 led by Jason McGee, Chief
Architect for WebSphere Advanced Technology
- CICS Transaction Server V3.2 technical overview
- Messaging featured-session with panel Q&A
led by Andrew Bainbridge and other product
strategists
I have included links below to provide you with more
information on this exciting opportunity at Impact 2007:
Technical
track overview, with session highlights
Updated,
complete list of technical sessions to help you plan
your schedule
Register now!
I look forward to seeing you in Orlando, May 20 - 25!
Sincerely,
Tom Rosamilia
General Manager, WebSphere Software
IBM Software Group
|
|
|
|
|
Melbourne
WebSphere User Group
This year, Justin Spicer took over as the new leader
of the Melbourne WUG. He organized its first meeting
in over 2 years, and drew a packed crowd of over 50
attendees! Read on for how he prepared and executed
one of the biggest WUG launches we've ever seen.
We had a list of people who signed an
"expression of interest" that was
passed around at last year's WebSphere Technical
Exchange in Sydney , so I emailed everyone from that
list and asked them to join up. The rest was
simply word of mouth...I've worked for quite a few
organizations in Melbourne so know many of the WAS
admins, so I emailed/called them and asked them to
spread the word. Seems it worked!
I kept the first meeting very light on in terms of
presentations, I wanted it to be really casual, just an
opportunity to discuss why we were putting the WUG
together, and what we wanted to achieve. I
opened the meeting with a 5-10min welcome
"speech", then had a 5 minute
presentation from the WebSphere BU executive (Wes
McDonald). We then moved on to a 10 minute
rundown on the WebSphere suite of products from
one of the IBM technical sales guys (Chris
Sackfield). From there I led the group through
an open discussion on possible future topics, what
we wanted to achieve, and also to enroll a number of
helpers to lend a hand in running the WUG.
After almost an hour we went into an informal
networking mode where everyone stood up and
wandered around the room with a beer in their hands
just chatting. I think it was a really great way to
break the ice within the group.
I received lots of very positive feedback following
the meeting. I'm currently planning for our next
meeting (late April) to contain presentations on
WebSphere Portal Server (very big in Melbourne, most
organizations represented at the meeting are using it),
SOA (of course), and possibly even a hands-on
lab with WebSphere XD in the 2nd hour (similar
to the one done at the WebSphere Technical
Exchange last year) for those interested. At the
same time as that lab I might have a developer do a
"what's new in java 5" in another room.
Thanks for the tips Justin! We look forward to seeing
big things from the Melbourne WUG in the future. The
next meeting is being planned for May 1, 2007.
UK WebSphere User Group
 The very successful UK
WebSphere User Group held another outstanding
event on February 27th, 2006 at IBM's Bedfont Lakes
in West London . As has become the norm for the
User Group's London events, over 220 WebSphere
users from around the UK came together to share
experiences and learn from experts and from one
another.
The event opened with a keynote presentation by Jim
Caldwell, Director, WebSphere Application
Infrastructure Product Management from IBM's Toronto
lab, in which he provided insights into IBM's plans for
WebSphere Application Server and the rest of the
WebSphere family.
For the rest of the day a wide variety of presentations
were available in seven parallel tracks, covering topics
related to WebSphere. As always, we were fortunate to
have the support of some outstanding speakers from
IBM's development labs around the world and some of
the best WebSphere consultants from the UK . As well
as Jim Caldwell, we were joined by Tim Francis, Chief
Architect of the WebSphere Tools and RAD in the
Toronto Lab, Ann Black, WebSphere XD Operations
Management Architect & Lead from the Rochester
Lab., Erik Burckart, WebSphere Application Server
Lead Architect from the Raleigh Lab and Birga Rick,
from WebSphere Portal Development in the
Boeblingen Lab in Germany.
Once again the event was run in partnership with the
WebSphere Integration User Group, who organized a
program of sessions focusing on WebSphere
Message Broker and Process Integration, with some
excellent speakers from IBM and the user community.
Added value for members was again provided by a
wide range of business partners showcasing
WebSphere related products and services.
One of the great benefits of attending User Group
events is the opportunity to meet with fellow
WebSphere users and experts from IBM and other
companies and share experiences, best practices
and knowledge. This time, as usual, the agenda
afforded plenty of time for this networking, over coffee
breaks and the buffet lunch that was provided.
A surprise exhibit this year gave members a chance
to explore the virtual world known as Second Life, as a
pre-cursor to running a complete WUG event in
Second Life later this year. To add some fun to this a
treasure hunt took place on the IBM "island" in the
virtual world, with a valuable prize for the winner. For
more information on Second life, or to register there in
preparation for the WUG event, please see
http://www.secondlife.com.
Since its formation in 2001 the UK WebSphere User
Group has steadily grown its membership to over
1600, clearly consolidating its position as the
premiere independent organization representing the
interests of UK-based WebSphere customers and
users, whether they be developers, technicians,
architects or managers, and covering subjects as
diverse as development, infrastructure & support.
UK
WebSphere User Group
WebSphere MQ and BI
UK User Group
Spain WUG
On March 16, the Spain WUG held its inaugural
meeting to an appreciative crowd. Representatives
from 5 different companies (3 customers, and 2
Business Partners) were present, in addition to
several IBMers.
Topics of conversation included JAX-RPC, BPM,
organizing the group's direction, messaging, and of
course some refreshments. We look forward to our
next meeting, and raising awareness of WebSphere in
Spain !
|
|
