Re: The relevance of COMMON (was Penton to buy Duke - New

Paul is absolutely correct.  Once Management sees the results of COMMON
attendance it won't be questioned.  At a previous employer I had the
foresight (luck?) to negotiate for annual COMMON attendance.  WHen the
time came to put up or shut up, my boss (a direct descendant of the two
dutch guys who invented copper wire while fighting over a penny)
descided that funds were not available.  A battle ensued but I won.
About 1 month after my return he sat in my office and apologized for
doubting the value of the conference. He could see from my attitude and
the new approaches I was taking to various problems that I had learned a
great deal at the conference.  In fact that same year I convinced him
(with minimal effort) to send my programmer as well.

This brings up a point:  If you go to COMMON, attend a few classes, all
of CUDS, and generally goof off, you will bring back nothing. Management
will be deservedly upset and chances for future conferences for yourself
and others in your department will be severly crippled.  Bruce Collins
statement applies again.  So GO, Learn, Participate, Meet People, (even
many on this list), and Get Involved!

 - Larry Bolhuis (yup, that's dutch!)

techsupport@basspro.com wrote:
> 
> How in the world can you be frustrated with COMMON if you've never
> been????!!!????  That means you've never invested a dime's worth of money nor 
>a
> dime's worth of time to see what you could get out of it.  As Bruce Collins
> stated in another message, you get out of it what you put into it.  
>Personally,
> I think you should be screaming, jumping up and down and hollering(that's an
> Ozark mountain phrase), if your "decision makers" won't send you for training.
> I've never understood how we are supposed to advance our abilities and skills
> without outside training.  People who make these decisions should have mean,
> nasty, ugly things done to them.  The benefits from COMMON are far too 
>numerous
> to mention here and they are multiplied when you volunteer and really get to
> know the movers and shakers in our industry.  They are some of the most
> friendly, helpful people I've ever met.
> 
> Paul Fenstermacher

-- 
Larry Bolhuis         |  
Arbor Solutions, Inc  |  IBM AS/400e - Get There First!
(616) 451-2500        |  
(616) 451-2571 -fax   |  It's 10PM.  Has your NT Server had it's
lbolhuis@arbsol.com   |  therapeutic re-boot yet today?
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