This blog is written by Alan Seiden, an authority on PHP development with IBM i, who helps companies achieve best practices and top performance when combining PHP, Zend Framework, IBM i, RPG and DB2. An award-winning speaker, Alan is project manager of Zend's open-source PHP Toolkit for IBM i and owner of Alan Seiden Consulting, Ho-Ho-Kus, N.J. You can reach him at http://www.alanseiden.com, [email protected] or @alanseiden.
At conferences, I'm swept up in the excitement of high-energy professionals learning, teaching and sharing. For weeks afterward, the adrenaline rush fuels sharper thinking as I use the information and techniques I've absorbed from presenters, vendor booths and people I've met. More IT professionals deserve to enjoy that “conference high.”
Some IT executives hesitate to send staff to industry meetings: it's too expensive, they think, or they can't spare the staff time. But I've seen staffers often return to work energized, revitalized and psyched to put what they've learned to practical use.
Sometimes a bit of knowledge has surprising benefits. For example, Jeb Bouchard, systems analyst at Waitsfield and Champlain Valley Telecom (WCVT), Waitsfield, Vt., saved WCVT $100,000 per year in printing and consulting fees by adopting InfoPrint for IBM i. Without the guidance of experts she'd met at COMMON, such a cost savings and enhanced self-sufficiency might have remained a dream.
Another conference success story involves Jorge Sanguinetti, IS Manager of ACIS Enhancements at Apria Healthcare, Lake Forest, Calif., who learned at the OCEAN Technical Conference how to enable mobile interfaces by adding Web services to Apria's legacy applications, avoiding an expensive and risky rewrite.
Jeb and Jorge achieved quick wins by seeking answers to their targeted questions. Conferences can also provide valuable “delayed wins” by exposing attendees to technology that they can call upon later. For example, yesterday a client asked me how to accelerate cached data stored on the Integrated File System (IFS). I remembered Margaret Fenlon's “IFS Advanced Topics” talk from COMMON 2011, at which IBM's Fenlon introduced temporary file systems, which are memory-based and fast. This solution will speed my client's application without code changes. How much is that solution worth?
To reap the most value from conferences, plan to approach IBM execs, reps or vendors for a solution to your issue. What you've assumed would be an expensive, time-consuming project might be simplified by a future release or Technology Refresh. At COMMON, you can submit requirement sheets directly to IBM.
To find an answer to a burning question, contact speakers or vendors ahead of time to let them know your staff will be there and suggest the topic you'd like discussed. Attend “Ask the Experts” events and panel discussions. Collect business cards and follow up after the conference.
I've heard secondhand that some IT executives believe that reviewing conference presentation slides online, after the fact, is sufficient education for their staff. In my experience, however, slides serve as reference material at best. They can't motivate and guide IT professionals toward success in adopting new ideas. For real value, attendance and active participation are crucial.
If your budget hasn't included a line for conference participation, consider the benefits of adding one. You're likely to find it a wise investment.
What have conferences done for you? Share your story in the Comments section below.
So true: reading conference slides without going to the session does not motivate or give you enough information to use the knowledge. I have ofter picked up slides for a session that conflicts with one I'm going to and I've found it hard to follow. Now if only conferences would schedule all the sessions I want to go to sequentially. ;-)
Posted by: Jeb Bouchard | March 27, 2013 at 07:12 AM
I could not agree with you more Alan.........
It is not always the content of the slides but the networking with peers that solves issues faster and with a proven level of success for implementation.
Posted by: david andruchuk | March 27, 2013 at 03:42 PM
Alan hits the nail on the head... All companies should allocate budget for continuing education of staff. The money spent not only benefits in improved efficiencies but creates an employee that is more than willing to continue with the employer toward the goals of the organization. On the other side of the coin I am involved in the organization of local conferences and we pride ourselves on providing extremely good value for the costs. Support your local user group and your local and national conferences and this community will continue into the future.
Posted by: Paul Rogers | March 28, 2013 at 06:43 AM
Great Blog Alan. Conferences are such a great source for learning and interacting. It is so very beneficial to have a wide range of topics and presentations to choose from as well as numerous experts and colleagues that have a wealth of experience combined that are available and willing to talk shop and more. So very often you are able to engage and find answers to current issues as well as learn what is new and what is on the horizon. By nature IT is ever changing and requires a continual learning process. Conference events are an excellent way to stay abreast and expand skills and definitely should be included within an IT budget.
Posted by: Laura Ubelhor | March 28, 2013 at 03:15 PM
Alan, I agree with you. Many companies today think that watching a webinar or perusing slides from a conference is just as effective as attending educational conferences and seminars. When budgets are cut the first thing most companies reduce is educational expenditures. In Jeb Bouchard's case, the cost of attending COMMON seems inconsequential. As president of the WMCPA, we host a spring conference every spring and struggle with attitude every year!
Posted by: Jim Buck | March 29, 2013 at 12:58 PM
Along these lines, COMMON has created a detailed estimate of conference return on investment (ROI) that seems accurate to me:
http://www.common.org/index.php/membership/roi-membership.html
Posted by: Alan Seiden | April 01, 2013 at 09:13 PM
Alan, what a great post! I somehow missed it initially but I'm glad it finally came upon it.
You are so right - attending a conference is so much more valuable than collecting charts or even collecting facts and code examples.
The interaction is critical - not just with speakers but with exhibitors and fellow attendees. At a recent RPG & DB2 Summit, I had someone bring me a challenge I couldn't answer, only to have the person sitting with us at the same table at lunch tell of how he solved a very similar problem. The value of that one conversation alone had to have paid for the conference for him.
Thanks for pointing out the sometimes intangible but critical value of conference attendance.
Posted by: Susan Gantner | May 03, 2013 at 02:45 PM