IDUG EMEA 2014 – Day 3
This is my first attendance at an IDUG Technical conference. I have been reading and hearing a lot about IDUG over the years, but I have never had the opportunity to attend. I did however have some idea on the conference proceedings from my previous experience of attending a SQL PASS conference. DB2 is my key area of expertise, so I was waiting for the opportunity to attend an IDUG event. And, believe me, it is absolutely fascinating and well worth the wait, especially meeting and listening to all those well-known members of the DB2 community whose books, blogs, articles, white-papers kept me engrossed and helped me throughout my career.
The IDUG conference is the best possible DB2 education you can get anywhere, all the real-world tips and tricks directly from the architects and engineers in IBM and hands-on users around the globe and they are just an email away. I discussed a DB2 upgrade issue I encountered in HA environment with the lead HA architect of IBM. He was very kind to offer his help and shared his contact details for further communication on this issue. Hint and tips like these from fellow members of the IDUG community is what makes people recommend the conference to all other DB2 professionals who wish to enhance their DB2 skills and knowledge.
I arrived at the conference hotel in Prague on a foggy Sunday evening and now we are already on day three. The LUW keynote speech from Paul Z on day one was very exciting and encouraging. Paul’s message to all the DB2 LUW folks like me was to embrace all the new IBM data technologies without hesitation because ultimately DB2 is everywhere, so we should be able to apply our original skills in all the new technologies without much extra effort. Technical sessions are ongoing, moving from one room to another, chatting to other DB2 consultants in the UK and Europe. Overall it is a very refreshing experience.
One word of advice to all those who are planning to take a free certification exam at IDUG – try to take the exam as early as possible. There are lots of attendees all wishing to expand their DB2 knowledge, which may result in a queue for the certification room later in the day.