Other Issues

Highlights: Board Elections, IUC'02, Webcast Office Connect & IDS, Bye Meg, and More...

Welcome to the International Informix Users Group (IIUG) Insider! Designed for IIUG members and Informix user group leaders, this contains timely and relevant information for the IBM Informix community.

Contents:

1. IIUG Board Elections - We Rocked The Vote
2. IUC'02 - Two Weeks to Go & Another Top 10 List!
3. IUC'02 - IIUG's Presence & Highlights
4. Webcast - 28 August - Office Connect & IDS
5. Farewell Good Friend of IIUG, Meg Hilbert
6. IIUG Software Downloads: Over 2000 IDS 9.3
7. Second E-Mail Address Implemented for IIUG Discussion Groups
8. IIUG Referrals: Just Three to Get a Prize
9. Useful Links
10. Closing and Credits

IIUG Board Elections - We Rocked The Vote

Turnout for the 2003 IIUG Board Elections was outstanding! We received over 530 votes, demonstrating improved IIUG visibility and membership interest. Thanks to all who took the time to support our candidates.

The IIUG Nominating Committee will validate election votes and then contact all candidates by telephone to reconfirm their commitment. We'll extend our congratulations to the 11 top vote getters no later than 26 August. Those who didn't make the cut will also receive a courtesy call from the Nominating Committee by 30 August. Election results will be confidential.

Who will be in the winner's circle? We'll find out when the new board members are formally announced at the Annual General Meeting, scheduled for 10 September, in Anaheim, California, during the Informix User Conference 2002.

IUC'02 - Two Weeks to Go & Another Top 10 List!

Here's another unauthorized "IUC Top 10 List" from IIUG Board member, Paul Mosser. Read and enjoy, forgiving his curious gender references.

The top ten reasons that your BOSS should let you attend the Informix User Conference (part of the larger IBM Data Management Technical conference) in Anaheim, California, USA, on 9-13 Sept 2002 are:

Ain't he a ham?

IUC'02 - IIUG's Presence & Highlights

The annual Informix conference has traditionally been the preferred forum for IIUG to meet its membership and work with its leaders face- to-face. For IUC'02, we have a full slate of events in the schedule. If you are planning to be in Anaheim, please note the following:

• IIUG Board meetings: While only open to Board members, these are key to launching the coming year's activities. Saturday, 7 Sep. and Thursday, 12 Sep.
• IUGLC/Advisory Council Meeting: Saturday, 7 Sep. all day. Will bring heads of the local user groups around the world and members of the IIUG Advisory Council together with the IIUG Board of Directors to take stock of the past year, discuss the future and meet with IBM Data Management execs.
• IBM SMB Review IIUG Leadership: Sunday, 7 Sep. evening. Brian Staff and his team will discuss strategies for improving IBM Data Management's reach into the small and mid-sized business market segment.
• Meet the Executives (Informix): Monday, 9 Sep., 4:00 PM - 5:15 PM. Watch outgoing IIUG President, Fred Hubbard, take on IBM Data Management big wigs, with assistance from IIUG President Elect, Jerry Hamilton, and IIUG Co-Founder and Directors Award Winner, Lester Knutsen. Your questions can be submitted in advance at www.IIUG.org.
• IIUG Annual General Meeting (AGM): Tuesday, 10 Sep., 8:30 AM - 9:45 AM. This gala presentation, by IIUG's outgoing and incoming Presidents, celebrates the past, present and future of IIUG. We'll announce the election results and the IIUG Directors Awards for outstanding service to the Informix community. Attend to receive your membership gift.
• IIUG Booth at the conference exhibits hall, where you can meet IIUG leaders from around the world in addition to the IIUG Board of Directors.

Webcast - 28 August - Office Connect & IDS

As we are approaching 400 downloads of IBM Informix Office Connect 3.0 from the IIUG Member Area, this is an excellent time to have IBM gurus tell us how to maximize Office Connect with IBM Informix Dynamic Server. Learn from the experts!

Please join us on Wednesday, 28 August, for a webcast titled "Using IBM Office Connect with the Informix Dynamic Server (IDS)".

Our host will be Dawn Shannon, IBM Data Management User Group Program Manager.

Additional details, including login instructions at: http://www.iiug.org/resources/webcasts/webcast_28aug02.html

Office Connect Home: http://www.ibm.com/software/data/informix/tools/officeconnect/

Office Connect Frequently-Asked Questions: http://www.ibm.com/software/data/informix/tools/officeconnect/faq.html

Office Connect Spec Sheets (Download): http://www.ibm.com/software/data/informix/pubs/specsheets/GC27156600.pdf

Farewell Good Friend of IIUG, Meg Hilbert

The International Informix Users Group was saddened by news last week of Meg Hilbert's resignation from IBM. As an employee of Informix Corporation, and later IBM Corporation, and as Informix's and IBM's formal representative to the IIUG Board of Directors, Meg was one steadfast champion of the Informix product line

A fervent advocate of the company and its technologies, Meg started out with Informix Corporation over 15 years ago. Upon the Informix buyout by IBM, Meg received a well-deserved promotion and visited almost every local Informix user group in the world. In presenting the spectrum of Informix products to the user community, she was always responsive to users, expertly assisting them with their product and service needs. If stumped by any user's question, Meg would get the right answer from the correct people and resources inside the company.

Meg, a true champion of the Informix community, decided to leave IBM for an opportunity that was too difficult for her to pass up. Some of us wish a short-lived departure, so she can come back to IBM and work with us again. But deep down, we all want the best for Meg, who, after all, has her own fan club within IIUG!

If you wish to send a personal note of good luck or thanks to Meg, the IIUG has set up the following e-mail alias: ThankUMeg@IIUG.org

Meg, the IIUG Board of Directors wishes to express our deeply felt gratitude to you, as well as our best wishes on your new endeavor. We'll miss you!

IIUG Software Downloads: Over 2000 IDS 9.3

IIUG members continue to download IDS 9.3 in impressive numbers, surpassing 200 downloads thus far in August, and exceeding 2000 downloads since this database was made available in late April.

Please note that other products available for download from the IIUG Members Area include SE 7.25, Office Connect 3.0, and Four J's BDL.

We are also working on additional IBM products, so keep an eye on the "Downloads" tab.

Second E-Mail Address Implemented for IIUG Discussion Groups

Are you overwhelmed by the sheer volume of IIUG discussion group e-mails? Sometimes it helps if you have the ability to divide correspondence into different e-mail accounts. A new and optional Special Interest Group (SIG) e-mail address feature, recently added to the IIUG membership database, could be useful to members who have elected to participate in one or more of the IIUG discussion group lists.

If you elect to use the optional SIG e-mail address, it will result in all SIG messages going to your optional SIG e-mail address, instead of your primary contact e-mail address. Note that all of the other IIUG publications - such as Insider issues, special Alerts or other broadcast correspondence - would be sent to your primary contact e-mail address. This change only affects the address used for messages from the SIG lists you have signed up for.

Members are cautioned to be careful when putting an entry into the optional e-mail area, because the address will not be pre-validated. An invalid entry would result in your SIG list messages going to an invalid address. If you do not want to split up your IIUG correspondence and your SIG messages into different e-mail accounts, leave the secondary e-mail address blank.

The secondary e-mail address may be found by clicking on the member link provided near the end of this Insider, logging in to your member record area and clicking on the "Membership" button at the bottom of the update page. You will see a new field near the bottom of the "Membership Information" page described as "Optional E-mail for SIG Lists Only".

IIUG Referrals: Just Three to Get a Prize

IIUG's membership referral drive, launched six weeks ago, has yielded 268 new members! While Gerd Kaluzinski, Michael Clark and Jean Georges Perrin remain ahead of the pack, many of you have referred only two members.

To provide an additional spark to this referral program, we've lowered the prize bar to three referrals. So how about giving your best pitch one more shot with your friends, fans of Informix technology? Scintillating prizes await!

For more info, please see http://www.iiug.org/referral/.

Useful Links

Closing and Credits

The International Informix Users Group (IIUG) is an organization designed to enhance communications between IBM and its worldwide user community. IIUG now exceeds 15,000 members and enjoys the support and commitment of IBM's Data Management division. Key programs include local user groups and special interest groups, which we promote and assist from launch through growth.

Sources: IIUG Board of Directors
Editors: Fred Hubbard and David Smith, IIUG Board of Directors

For comments, please send an email to ug@iiug.org.