As 2018 comes to a close, we wanted to spend a little time reminiscing over what a fantastic year it was here on the Middleware Community. We are especially grateful for our local user groups (and their fearless leaders!) that help make this community such a vibrant, thriving place for all members.
Check out some of the cool highlights from just a few of our groups:
New Zealand IBM Storage User Group
- Multiple in-person meetings and events, with a fully packed house! Thanks @Abilio De Oliveira Neto for these wonderful photos.
New Zealand IBM Maximo User Group
- This group held another successful three-day user group conference in Christchurch at the Novotel Christchurch Cathedral Square Hotel. To accommodate a wide range of users with different interests they ran parallel tracks – Technical and Strategic – to allow more flexibility and provide a better experience for all users.
- Check out @Richard Jackson's amazing recap in this blog.
ASEAN Maximo User Group
- ASEAN ran two events – one in May which was attended by over 70 people, and a second in November, attended by over 50 people.
- Check out the presentations here.
Maximo User Group – UK & Ireland
- Maximo UK & Ireland had another great year, hosting multiple successful meetings. They started a new format and introduced interactive "table topics" – which allow members the opportunity to quiz experts and share experiences in a more informal setting. Check out some of the presentations from the November 2018 meeting, and a huge thanks to @Richard Barber for these fantastic photos!
Maximo Technical User Group – MaxTECH
- This group had a wonderful year, especially considering 2018 was the first year of its existence. MaxTECH grew from a user group held in just one city to an international user group with meetings held in Canada, United States and Great Britain, and over 160 members.
- MaxTECh held four meetings in 2018 in St. Louis, Orlando, Houston and London and already have 2019 meetings planned. Mark your calendars now:
- Calgary (February)
- Charleston, SC (March)
- Syracuse (May)
- Orlando (August)
- Phoenix (Fall)
- Ireland/UK (Spring/Fall)
- Big thanks to @Stephen Hume for providing a great wrap-up and photos from each event!
Tivoli User Group France
- This group has been around for more than 30 years, with some members attending meetings for the past decade.
- Tivoli France held two events in 2018, one in March and in October, and a huge highlight for users was seeing the roadmap and new product features, plus getting to participate in roundtable discussions. Thanks @Jean-Gabriel WEYER for these photos!
Austrian GSE Tivoli User Group
- Another fantastic year for the Austrian GSE Tivoli User Group, with multiple meetings and great presentations. Check out the recaps and photo slideshows here, and a big thanks @Harald Biedermann for the sneak peek below.
Japan IBM Middleware Users Community (JIMUC)
- JIMUC hosted a working group kickoff meeting in September, attended by over 25 people, followed by Board Meetings in October, November and December with a year-end party on December 11th.
- A big highlight was the IBM Cloud Community Summit held on December 8th, including two sessions featuring a JIMUC activity presentation and an IBM Champions in Japan presentation. Thank you @Chikako Inami for the summary and photo!
Once again, thank you to all of our members and user group leaders for making 2018 one for the books! We are looking forward to 2019 and have some great things in the works. What are some of your goals for the New Year?
Haven't joined a local user group yet? Check them out
here and as always, let us know what you think!