Hello again to our IDUG members all over the world!
As I excitedly prepare for travel this week to Philadelphia for IDUG’s 2023 North America Db2 Tech Conference, I am also reflecting quite a bit. This is my final President’s Message!
I am so proud of how hard and how well all IDUG’s volunteers and stakeholders worked during the once-in-a-century global pandemic. While our world got smaller…IDUG got bigger! We produced 100% virtual conferences that continued our reach and that reached out and touched so many in the Db2 community who had not been able to participate regularly at our face-to-face events. While other User Groups shrunk or ceased to exist, IDUG grew its participation across new geographies and via new members.
In 2022 we, at long last, saw our return to the in-person conferences in North American and in Europe that so many of our members have always known and loved. And we did that while producing hybrid conferences so that our covid-era participants could continue to engage with their worldwide Db2 community. And finally, this year, IDUG once again held face-to-face conferences in Australia and India.
There is still much for our Db2 family to look forward in 2023! We are looking forward to online and onsite conferences for and in Latin America and the launch of a brand new IDUG website with enhanced member engagement opportunities.
To our IDUG volunteers: Again, I tip my cap to your dedication and stick-to-it-iveness through these trying times for all of us in our professional and personal lives. To our IDUG partners: Your support and teamwork has been critical to IDUG’s success. Your continuing faith in and commitment to our organization and our mission is always respected and very much appreciated.
In this, IDUG’s 35th year as an independent user-run not-for-profit organization, we remain honoured to strengthen everyone in this community by providing the highest quality education and services for Db2. I have appreciated your interest and support in IDUG during my time as your president. As always—wherever you may be reading this—I say stay healthy and stay safe.
-Iqbal