RE: COMMON Question Was: Congrads John Earl!

>True, False or Not-Applicable (T/F/N):  
>I have attended at least one COMMON conference since January of 2002.
FALSE.  The last time was in 2001, I think.

>I would attend another COMMON conference.
MAYBE

Multiple Choice:
What is the biggest impediment to you attending COMMON conferences?
(Feel free to rank them if you like).
   A) Monetary Cost
   B) Time Cost
   C) Can't get management approval
   D) Traveling is a hassle
   E) I don't learn anything
   F) The sessions aren't relevant to what I do today 
   G) There is another conference I'd much rather attend (Name it?)
   H) Other _____________________________________________________

Re: A) Conference cost is a small part of it.  Once factored with
travel/hotel the cost easily doubles if not more.  If a person is
allocated, say, $2K-3K a year for training, they can't afford to attend
if travel is involved.

Re: E)/F) Over time I've come away from COMMON & the IBM Tech Conf with
less and less usable info.  Some sessions are useful, but many are
either too entry-level for the experienced person or not relevant to
what I do at my current employer.

Re: G)/H) Not so much my preference, but it's where my job is heading.
As the 400s don't take a full time administrator, my job duties have
expanded to include other responsibilities.  These duties are unrelated
to the 400 and I don't have the same experience.  So my training budget
the past two years has been focused on those topics vs. AS/400.

I'm from Indy originally and could have driven down and stayed with
family or friends, meaning minimal travel expense.  But my training
budget is going in another direction.

Re: H) It's just not the same since John Sears retired.


The discussion on cities made me think.  Shouldn't COMMON investigate
the geography of the 400 install base and focus on regions where 400
density is at it's greatest?  Chicagoland, to give a biased example, has
a large installed base of 400s.  COMMON in Chicago could potentially
draw many more people as their employers would not have to cover travel
costs.  The downside is what John mentioned regarding room revenue from
the hotels, but I would gladly pay an extra $100 for the conference
itself if I didn't have to travel, and so would my employer.

- John
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