System i Developer (SiD), a consortium of four top educators on System i development technologies, has announced that its second RPG and DB2 Summit will take place October 2û4 in Minneapolis.

The System i Developer team, comprised of Susan Gantner, Skip Marchesani, Jon Paris, and Paul Tuohy, finalized plans for a fall event after the successful conclusion of their inaugural RPG and DB2 Summit, which took place in Las Vegas last March.

"Feedback at the March conference indicated strong support for the Summit as a bi-annual event, even among those who can attend only one event per year," said Susan Gantner, managing partner of the SiD consortium. "Attendees told us that they and their co-workers need regular access to education that focuses on the core technologies behind their most important business applicationsùnamely RPG and DB2."

The Fall RPG and DB2 Summit will span three days with sessions arranged into four concurrent educational tracksùthree with an RPG focus and one purely devoted to DB2 and SQL topics. Session instructors, chosen for their expertise on System i development topics, include Scott Klement, George Farr, Shantan Kethireddy, and Tom McKinley as well as System i Developer partners Paul Tuohy, Jon Paris, Skip Marchesani and Susan Gantner. In addition to the core conference, two in-depth half-day HeadStart Workshops will be offered the afternoon of Monday, October 1.

According to Gantner, many attendees at the March Summit commented on the accessibility of the instructors and the relaxed atmosphere of the event, which made it easy and comfortable to ask questions during sessions, approach the instructors outside of class, and start discussions with other developers.

Attendees Jeb Bouchard, Michele Laskus and Eric Samuelsen, all Systems Analysts for Waitsfield and Champlain Valley Telecom in Waitsfield, Vermont, agree. They say the value and focus of the Summit attracted them to register for the March event, but it was the interactive atmosphere and quality of education that turned it into an energizing, team-building experience. "Two of us were slated to attend another conference, but after seeing the Summit course offerings and comparing the prices, all three of us were able to go to the Summit for less money," said Samuelsen, spokesperson for the team. "We are so glad we made that decision! The sessions covered technology we use in our daily work and gave us ideas, tips, and tools that we could implement right away. The speakers were excellent! Their enthusiasm for the subject matter and System i was evident from day one. And maybe the best thing of all was that, since all three of us were able to attend together, we were all in sync and carried the energy of the conference back to the office. Right after the Summit, we loaded Remote System Explorer V7.0, and we plan to give PDM a proper burial later this summer."

"We're particularly pleased that people felt comfortable approaching us and each other to share ideas and ask questions, and that they returned to work motivated to try new things," Gantner said. "One of our key goals with SiD and the Summit is to create a strong sense of community and vibrancy among System i developers."

Tuition for the Fall RPG and DB2 Summit is $995 for those who register before July 31, with special discounts offered to alumni and to companies who send three or more employees. For more information about System i Developer and the Fall 2007 RPG and DB2 Summit, please visit www.SystemiDeveloper.com or call toll free (from the US and Canada) 1 866-716-5409.

About RPG and DB2 Summit

Created by System i Developer as a new, highly interactive conference experience devoted exclusively to the needs of RPG and DB2 developers, the RPG and DB2 Summit debuted in Las Vegas last March. The Summit provides an educational agenda focused solely on the RPG and database skills developers need for their daily work, presented in an intimate and affordable environment.

About System i Developer

Comprised of top experts in RPG, ILE, DB2, SQL, and WDSc technologies, System i Developer is dedicated to offering the very best RPG/DB2-focused education available. Its cornerstone conference, the RPG and DB2 Summit, provides an interactive, total immersion experience to RPG and DB2 developers who want to stay abreast of the latest advancements and learn how to apply specific RPG and DB2 techniques to keep their software applications vibrant and innovative.

As independent educators with longstanding relationships with IBM, members of the consortium also work with individual organizations to provide well informed, unbiased advice and training on any System i development topicùfrom basic best practices to the newest, most advanced techniques.