IOUC : Blogs : Read the latest news on the global user group community

Feb 23
2012

Read the latest news on the global user group community - March 2012!

By: Nagaraj Paduvare

User Groups – Are You a Member Yet? News and Updates from the Global User Group Communities
This issue: February, 2012
Introduction Global User Group Activities At-a-Glance Asia Pacific User Group Community Europe, Middle East, and Africa User Group Community Latin America User Group Community North America User Group Community Global Contacts and Resources for Information about Oracle’s User Group Community

Introduction

Welcome to the February 2012 edition of “Are you a Member Yet?”, the quarterly newsletter about Oracle’s global user group communities. Worldwide, our User Group Relationship Managers have been supporting many new and unique activities with their community leaders and members. This newsletter helps you understand who’s doing what in our communities. It’s a guide to learning more about user groups around the world with the hope that you, too, will become involved and begin to ask others – User groups – are you a member yet? Anywhere on this planet – from Morocco to Hyderabad, London to San Diego, Sao Paolo, Beijing, Sydney and beyond – you can find an Oracle User Group near you on www.iouc.org! We hope you enjoy the new edition of the newsletter – Are you a member yet?

The next issue of “Are You a Member Yet?” will be issued and posted to www.iouc.org in June 2012.

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Global User Group Activities At-a-Glance

Check it out – User Groups leaders talk about their dedication to their user group – year over year, members return to user groups to network, share best practices, learn new content and meet with friends. Listen to them as they share their personal reasons for remaining a member of their user group – click here to see the videos. And keep visiting the site – more videos are under development now!

A list of all available user group videos can be viewed at the end of the newsletter.

Oracle Events and the User Group community

Thanks to the user groups in Latin America for their support of OpenWorld and JavaOne, Sao Paulo Brazil in December – in depth sessions, a user group pavilion on the exhibit floor and lots of other activities were part of the event! Read about the details in the Latin America report in this newsletter!

Stay in touch on user group events!

And if you are interested in learning about more user groups and Oracle events in your region – check out the events pages on oracle.com – user groups work with Oracle to post their events on these pages so everyone can see what’s going on with Oracle around the world! You can search for a list of events by region or by city and country - it’s a great way to stay informed and up to date!

Annual User Group Leaders’ Conference at Oracle HQ – January 23-25, 2012

Last month user group leaders from around the world met at Oracle Headquarters in Redwood Shores California for three days to learn about Oracle products and services, network and share best practices. This year was a record-breaker – more than 150 leaders attended the event. Oracle teams delivered more than 75 sessions and engaged in many lively discussions on products. User group leaders representing Java, Oracle technology, industries, applications, and special interest groups were invited to attend the event. There were leaders from every region of the world including New Zealand, China, Finland, South Africa, Argentina, Columbia and all across North America!

During the meetings users group leaders shared ideas on membership retention and offerings, speaker support, development of user group charters and many administrative issues that challenge today’s communities. In addition, they learned what they should be communicating to their members about Oracle products and services and understand how to secure knowledgeable speakers for meetings and events.

Many people followed the event on Twitter: #IOUC_Conference

Sample tweets from the IOUC conferences:

George Trujillo Jr	Oracle infusing great energy and collaboration in the Oracle user community. Excellent interaction & strategy discussions. #iouc_conference
Bert Ertman	Final day of the #IOUC_CONFERENCE Oracle did an outstanding job getting us into contact with all the Java folks. Great socializing as well!
Debra Lilley	Loving the videos at #iouc_conference - interesting way to get msg across and re-useable - London JUG on now #iouc_conference

See a very informative blog posting regarding the Leaders’ Summit!

User Groups welcome New Community Leaders

MySQL community leaders from around the world participated in the Annual Leaders’ Conference at Oracle this year. Representatives from Beijing, EMEA, and North America took time to share ideas on MySQL and met with members of the development team from Oracle. Oracle MySQL Ace Directors participated in the conference and leveraged opportunities to meet with other leaders and community managers!

Another milestone for the Leaders’ Summit was achieved with the participation of leaders from the Oracle Health Sciences User Group (OHSUG). The OHSUG is a global users group representing users of Oracle’s Clinical Trials software. This unique industry focused group is now an active member of the Oracle user group community.

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Asia Pacific User Group Community

User Groups in Asia Pacific continue to grow and expand in the region. A full list of user groups in the region is available on www.iouc.org – click on the regional map for the list. And be certain to check the list frequently – more user groups are added as their information becomes available. Welcome to all the Java and MySQL leaders from Asia Pacific!

The user groups in India joined together to host the first co-located user group conference – Sangam 2011 in Bangalore in December. This cooperative event brought together users of Oracle technology and applications. Overall attendance was excellent and the feedback about the event was very positive. Plans are underway to host another co-located event, Sangam 2012 most probably in Chennai during August 2012. Registration information and more details to come soon!

The All China Oracle User Group hosted a roadshow conference to some of the largest cities in China – focused on technology, the roadshow included speakers from Oracle and the China user group as well as a few Oracle ACE directors. Feedback about the event was very positive and plans are underway to host another series of events soon. For more information, contact the user group relationship manager in China (jim.jiang@oracle.com) and the user group website

We encourage you to stay informed about all the activities planned by the user groups in the region - And don’t miss out on all the user group activities on the schedule:

The APOUC Leaders’ meeting will be hosted in Shanghai 17-18 May 2012. This event will focus on the challenges facing user group leaders today – there will be meetings with Oracle product managers, networking opportunities, best practice sharing and planning sessions for the applications, technology, Java and MySQL leaders.
InSync 2012 – this is the co-located user group event hosted by Quest Australia/New Zealand and the Australia Oracle User Group. It will be hosted in Melbourne, Victoria 21-22 August 2012. The call for papers will open soon, so if you are interested in submitting a paper, check out the user group websites: http://www.ausoug.org.au , http://www.questdirect.org/
Sangam 2012 – the co-located user group event in India – date to be confirmed – Call for papers, registration information and more details are coming soon!
Oracle OpenWorld Tokyo 2012 - 4-6 April 2012 - “Engineered for Innovation” – if you attend , be certain to stop by the OAUG Japan booth in the exhibition hall to learn about the user group and their focus on Oracle applications!
JavaOne Tokyo! 4-6 April – JavaOne returns to Japan! For more information about the event, check out the website and IOUC.org for updates on Java user group participation in the event!
JavaOne and Oracle Develop return to India! Scheduled to be hosted 3-4 May in Hyderabad, India, the users groups will be very active and involved during the event. Call for papers, registration information and details are coming soon!
Quest Asia will host a two day conference focused on JD Edwards and Business Intelligence. This free event will be hosted 16-17 March in Mumbai, India
All China Oracle Users Group hosts Oracle’s Tom Kyte, Architect in Beijing and Shanghai 22-23 February 2012 for a unique session “Ask Tom and Eygle”. Check out the details at http://www.acoug.org/events/239.html

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Europe, Middle East and Africa User Group Community

PeopleSoft Roadshow in EMEA!

Three users groups joined together to host a unique set of conferences focused on companies using PeopleSoft. The events include customers sharing their PeopleSoft experience and Oracle product development team presentations. Oracle user group liaisons Jose-Anne Lortsch, Paulette Daniels and Margaret Wright supported the conference planning in close collaboration with Oracle marketing and public relations. The events were hosted in France 16 February, Benelux 21 February, and the UK 23 February. They were great events and allowed PeopleSoft users to network and meet with some of the best experts on PeopleSoft.

EMEA user group leaders in the spotlight!

See some of the best leaders discuss their enthusiasm for user groups!

· Janny Ekelson – one of two EOUC liaisons to Oracle on behalf of the EMEA user group leader community – discusses the value of user group membership to users and to Oracle. http://medianetwork.oracle.com/video/player/1424048295001

· Martijn Verburg of the London Java Community candidly talks about why all Java users should join a JUG now! http://medianetwork.oracle.com/video/player/1384506532001

EOUC hosts regional meeting at the Leaders’ Summit

Twenty five user groups representing Oracle, Java and MySQL user communities met while attending the annual Leaders’ Summit at Oracle Headquarters last month. The leaders shared ideas on social media, student programs, and collaboration. They carried many of their ideas forward to the rest of the international community attending the Summit.

Twitter!

Follow all the leader events and activities on twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/eouc

More opportunities to engage with the Oracle User Group communities:

· JavaOne – Moscow! Don’t miss this unique event – once again hosted in Moscow – 17-18 April 2012 at the Crocus Expo, International Exhibition Center, Moscow. Call for papers, registration information and details are coming soon!

· Regional User Group Leaders’ Meeting – Riga, Latvia – Following the very successful leaders meeting in Prague (May 2011), the EMEA leaders will gather in Riga to listen, share and discuss user group topics. This meeting helps leaders decide on their events, content and venues through the year. The meeting includes opportunities for interaction, Unconference sessions, 4 minute pitches, and general discussions. It truly is a unique meeting, delivers lots of information surrounded with sharing and laughter. Follow the meeting on Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/eouc

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Latin America User Group Community

The Latin America user group leaders supported OpenWorld Brazil in December – together they delivered 8 technical sessions during the event and staffed a user community booth on the exhibition floor where they met with attendees to discuss their user groups and share the value of user group membership. View the great video recording of Reinaldo Nogiera highlighting why he joins his user group: ORAUG-BR: http://medianetwork.oracle.com/video/player/1387190595001

And the Java Users Groups were very active – literally – at the JavaOne event too – Fabiane Nardon, leader of the SouJava User Group organized a bicycle race for Java users through Sao Paolo for anyone who could participate. Thanks to Fabiane for a great adventure!

Latin America leaders also attended the Leaders’ Summit at Oracle Headquarters in January – over 10 leaders attended, representing Oracle. Java and MySQL communities.

Building on the great success of the Latin America Oracle User Group Community Conference Tour in 2011, the group will offer it again in 2012. Planning is in process and details will be announced shortly – check out www.iouc.org for updates.

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North America User Group Community

Leaders from the North America Oracle, Java and MySQL groups met as one prior to the Leaders’ Summit in January. They shared best practices, and information about how they manage groups, retain membership and offer new and interesting information for their members.

In North America, regional user groups hosted more co-located conferences than ever before – one of the highlights was the East Coast Oracle Users Conference that involved groups from Virginia, Eastern States Applications, Hampton Roads and the Southeastern Oracle User Groups – they joined to deliver a conference that provided more than 40 sessions over two days for more than 250 attendees! For more information, check out www.seouc.com!

If you are interested in learning about user group events in your area, go here!

Upcoming user group activities in North America –

· Alliance 2012 – the annual event for all higher education, public sector and federal users of Oracle software. The 4 day conference offers over 450 educational sessions/workshops and 80+ exhibits. The Alliance conference is managed by the Higher Education Users Group (www.heug.org). It will be hosted at the Gaylord Opryland and Convention Center in Nashville Tennessee, 18-21 March 2012 – more information is available at: www.heug.org

· Collaborate 12 – Technology and applications forum for the Oracle Community is one of the largest user group led events of the year, hosted by

o Independent Oracle Users Group (IOUG)

o Quest International Users Group (Quest)

o Oracle Applications User Group (OAUG)

The conference will be hosted at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center, Las Vegas, NV from 22-26 April 2012. More information is available at http://collaborate12.com/

· Mark your calendars for the Oracle HCM User Group – an event dedicated to HR professionals using PeopleSoft and E-Business Suite software – The event will be hosted at The Mirage, Las Vegas Nevada, 18-22 June 2012. Go to www.ohug.org for more information

· The Oracle Development Tools users Group will host their annual conference – Kscope 12 24-28 June 2012 at the JW Marriott Hotel and conference center in San Antonio TX – this event offers 4 days of in depth technical sessions for the developer – don’t miss it! http://kscope12.com

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Resources for Information about Oracle's User Group Community

IOUC – the global community of user group leaders: www.iouc.org

User Groups on Oracle.com: Oracle User Group Central

Java User Groups: Java.net JUG Community

Global User Group Relationship Managers:

· India: Nagaraj Paduvare

· China: Jim Jiang

· EMEA: Tom Scheirsen

· LAD: Marina Neumann and Paola Girotti

· North America: Tina Weiss

· Java and MySQL: Nichole Scott