Originally posted by: TonyPearson
Mark your calendars! IBM plans to have back-to-back Technical University events in Hollywood, Florida:
- October 8-12, will focus on IBM Z mainframe, and a subset of IBM Storage that offer synergy for IBM Z, such as DS8880 storage system, and the TS7760 Virtual Tape Engine.
- October 15-19, will focus on IBM Power Systems and the entire IBM Storage portfolio.
When I first learned of this, I was not aware there was a city called Hollywood in Florida. The Hollywood in Florida is situated between Fort Lauderdale and Miami, so you can fly into either of those two airports to get to the conference.
(Did you know? The Hollywood most people know in California is no longer its own city, but rather incorporated as a neighborhood district into Los Angeles back in 1910. There are actually thirty different places called "Hollywood" around the world, two dozen in the United States, with the rest scattered in Ireland, Turkey, Russia, Singapore and the Philippines. Not all of these are formally "cities", but in some cases neighborhoods, districts, unincorporated areas, or other populated places. The Hollywood in Maryland claims to be the first, established in 1867!)
I only plan to attend the second week only, October 15-19. Here are some highlights:
- Keynote Sessions
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In the past, IBM had keynote sessions for each brand, for example, one focused on IBM Power systems, and another on IBM Storage. However, these were scheduled during the same time slot, forcing some people to make a tough choice.
To solve this, the two keynote sessions will be staggered, so attendees can attend both!
The storage keynote will take on a new format, with a panel of experts. I have been invited as one of the experts to participate! If there is a particular topic you want to hear about on the panel, please enter your comments below.
- Breakout Sessions
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As with most conferences, there is a "Call for Papers" requesting speakers submit the topics they can present, and then conference coordinators accept, adjust or reject them in building the final agenda.
Here are the topics I submitted:
- Build your personal brand! Social Media tips from an experienced blogger
- The Pendulum Swings Back - Understanding Converged and Hyperconverged Systems
- IBM Hybrid and Multi-Cloud storage solutions
- IBM Cloud Object Storage (powered by Cleversafe)
- Managing Risks with Data Footprint Reduction
- Information Lifecycle Management: Why Archive is different than Backup
- The Seven Tiers of Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery
If you attended the IBM Technical Universtiy in Orlando last May, the conference in October will have six months' worth of new announcements and products to cover.
I also plan to be at the IBM Technical University events in Johannesburg, South Africa (September 11-13), and Rome, Italy (October 22-26). If you plan to be at any of these events, let me know! If not, you can follow along with Twitter hashtag: #IBMtechU