President's Corner

nother season of meetings is off to a great start with excellent attendance! In September, we introduced a new 3:30 session featuring a Q&A panel on converting from CISC to RISC. Everyone was invited to ask the panel questions about their experiences. This format was extremely well received. We are going to repeat the Q&A panel format in November with a discussion on Lotus Notes. We believe this type of format allows everyone to participate and mutually solve problems. This is fundamentally what a users group is all about.

If you believe everything you read these days, (and who has enough time to keep up to date with all the technological advances, what with a long day at work combined with a home and family!) there are hundreds of new technologies, thousands of new software packages and even more new ways of doing business! And it is our job to answer questions on the latest and the greatest. We need to understand what these technologies can do for our business - how they can be used to enhance our line of business applications and make our customers happy. This is a formidable task!

We need to maximize the benefit of any time we take out of our busy schedule. Users groups are an excellent way to do this. The ability to talk to your peers, some from small companies or large companies or somewhere in between. TUG can help you find the answers to some of those questions: What's hot? Which technologies give my business the best ROI? How do I implement them? What is the AS/400's role? How do I fit? What do I need to be learning for future job enhancement? This is the role of a user group. This is why TUG exists. Our meetings allow you to preview what's hot, find out what's not and discuss it amongst your peers. Find out what the industry trend really is. Too often we fall for all that "marketechure" out there and think everyone is doing it, except many of the new technologies don't quite exist yet, or it's not quite as easy as - just plug it in and it will work (yeah right!). Separate the "vaporware" from the solutions for your business. Come out and discuss the issues with your professional colleagues. Listen to experts in their fields like Frank Soltis, Randy Johnston, and Joan Burek! See you at the next meeting! T < G