Well as 2008 draws to a close, I wanted to take this opportunity to say thank you to all the folks that have assisted ISUG throughout the year. Without your help, we wouldn’t be able to do half the things we do to meet the needs of our members. I wont mention names, because you all know who you are!

2009 looks like it will be another fantastic year for ISUG and Sybase. Glad to have you along for the ride!

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Calling all of you Sybase users in Canada!

We’ll be holding 3 user group events in Canada in October: Ottawa (7th), Toronto (8th) and Winnipeg (9th). These are all free to attend and are all day events, although the morning will be Data Management and the afternoon will be PowerBuilder-centric.

For more information and to register, see here.

ISUG is looking for members with a creative flair and in-depth knowledge of Sybase products to assist in the creation of Podcasts, Video Training clips, and other online educational activities.

If you are interested and have the time and commitment to spare, please contact me or leave a comment on this post.

ISUG is currently setting up several virtual groups revolving around some key Sybase products — ASE, Sybase IQ, PowerBuilder and PowerDesigner, with more to follow.

If you have any interest in serving on a steering committee for one or more of these groups, please contact me, or post a comment here and we’ll be in touch.

Participation on a steering committee does not take a great deal of time — maybe 1-2 hours a month.  It’s a great way to give back to the community and build your reputation within it.  Please consider participating!

Well I will admit that I had hoped to post a little bit during the week, but it wasn’t to be!  This is my first real opportunity of the week… and I am at the airport on the way out of Vegas!

This was the best TechWave in several years with a level of excitement and energy that is hard to do justice to.  The attendees were all a-buzz with the latest information from the sessions they attended; the exhibitors (including ISUG) were very busy during core hours; the Sybase folks were all walking around with big smiles on their faces.

And no wonder; what a GREAT set of product announcements to come out this week.  Now, we just have to wait to get our hands on the official releases!

And for those wondering about TechWave 2009?  We were reliably informed that next year would be “on the East Coast” … and I mean reliable. From John Chen no less!

Well, it took us a while, but we wanted to get it right the first time!

The ISUG e-Journal is officially with us.  This is an electronic version of the print edition, made possible by Press Computers (PCS) in the UK.  Currently we have all of the editions from Jan 2007 through the most recent edition.  (Note: the content from the PDF-only May/June 2007 edition is included in the July/August edition.)

Green and Gold Members can access the latest version from www.isug.com/iViewer. (You’ll need to login as part of the process.)  The archives can be accessed from www.isug.com/iArchive. (Again, you’ll need to login if not already logged in.)

Let me know what you think of the e-Journal by leaving your comments below.

Sybase TechWave 2008 will soon be upon us.  ISUG is raring to go for Sybase’s premier event of the year, its annual user training and solutions conference.

This year’s conference will be at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.  Yes, that’s the same place as last year.  (We won’t go into that here!)

If you haven’t yet registered but want to go, you have to register onsite now.  The cost is $1795 for the 4 days.  If you’re broke, but can find your way to Vegas, let me know by commenting, and ISUG might be able to get you a free or discounted pass.  (Note: might – no guarantees whatsoever!)

Here’s the press release about ISUG’s upcoming PowerBuilder 11 Tour in the U.S.A. and Canada. ISUG Gold members can register for just $49 on or before October 10th, and for just $99 afterwards. Non-members can register for $199 on or before October 10th, and for $249 afterwards… but, if you join ISUG first, you can register at the Gold rate! Gold membership is just $95, a savings of $55!

“We firmly believe that PowerBuilder is the premier 4GL RAD development tool on the market today,” said Mike Harrold, Executive Director of ISUG. “Add to this the .NET enhancements delivered in PowerBuilder 11 and you have a winning formula for .NET development that all PowerBuilder and .NET developers will benefit from.”

Attendees will have the opportunity to learn from some of the foremost experts in the PowerBuilder world as well as interact with their PowerBuilder peers as they spend the day experiencing the new features of PowerBuilder 11 first hand for themselves.

“This is a great opportunity for developers to learn as much as they can about the new .NET features in PowerBuilder 11,” said Chris Pollach, ISUG North American Regional User Group Director, and a user of PowerBuilder since the earliest releases. “Serious PowerBuilder developers will gain tremendous insight from the technical material being presented and have the opportunity to learn more about the strategic positioning of PowerBuilder going forward. At the same time, novice developers who have been trying to embrace .NET development with other tools will be able to appreciate PowerBuilder’s productivity features.”

About the Tour

Beginning October 23rd, the tour will take in ten cities in the United States and three in Canada, crisscrossing both countries from Orlando to Seattle and from San Diego to Montreal. Each city will be comprised of one full day of training from 8am to 5:30pm, with breakfast and lunch included included in the registration fee. All attendees are encouraged to bring their laptops with them to maximize the benefit of each of the technical subjects being presented.

For more information, including the dates and locations for each stop on the tour, and to register for these events, please visit www.isug.com/pb11tour.