What an incredible week for the IBM Z and LinuxONE Advocacy community!
We were delighted to host two Advocacy Office Hours sessions, bringing together advocates from across APAC & EMEA and US & Canada to learn more about the IBM Z Advocacy program, discover new opportunities for engagement, and hear inspiring stories from members of our community.
Throughout both sessions, we explored how advocacy helps professionals increase their visibility, expand their networks, gain industry recognition, and take meaningful steps toward becoming trusted voices in the IBM Z and LinuxONE ecosystem. Whether through mentoring, speaking at events, creating content, teaching, technical contributions, or social amplification, one message resonated strongly:
Many of us are already advocates. We just need to start recognizing and reporting the impact we're making.
We also walked attendees through the IBM Z Advocacy Hub, demonstrated how to earn and track Advocacy Badges, and shared exciting upcoming enhancements, including leaderboard improvements, streamlined badge processes, a more user-friendly technology selection experience, and new capabilities for submitting advocacy activities.
A special thank you goes to our guest speakers:
Ruth Bonser, whose journey from data science to becoming an IBM Champion, IBM Z Today's Architect, mentor, and community builder highlighted the power of advocacy in creating opportunities and fostering belonging.
Joseph Westman, who shared how advocacy, mentoring, thought leadership, and community engagement have complemented a distinguished career in mainframe transformation and innovation.
Their stories reinforced an important truth: advocacy is not just about sharing knowledge. It is about building confidence, creating connections, developing skills, and helping shape the future of our industry.
What's Next?
If you attended, thank you for contributing your questions, insights, and enthusiasm. If you missed a session, don't worry. The recordings are available and we encourage you to catch up on everything that was discussed.
🎬 Watch the IBM Z Advocacy Office Hours Recordings: https://ibm.biz/ibm-z-advocacy-office-hours
Most importantly, don't wait to begin your advocacy journey!
✅ Register as an IBM Z Advocate
✅ Report your acts of advocacy
✅ Start earning badges and recognition
✅ Share your expertise with the community
We Want to Hear From You
As we continue to evolve the Advocacy Office Hours series, we'd love your input.
What topics, speakers, demos, or advocacy success stories would you like to see in future sessions?
Share your ideas in the comments and help us shape the next Office Hours.
And if you've recently mentored someone, spoken at an event, created content, taught a class, contributed technically, or amplified IBM Z content on social media, go report your advocacy acts today. Every contribution matters, and every advocate helps strengthen our community.
We can't wait to see what you'll accomplish next.