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Member Testimonials

Here is what COMMON members have to say about the organization, the conferences and the benefits of membership.

Member Benefits

"Having access to the Web site and the message boards and the newsletters is good to keep up with what's going on. Being able to ask questions and get answers to technical issues is what IT is all about. We're all about problem solving." -- conference attendee

"With the COMMON group, you get a whole lot of information, and you get different opinions from different people." -- conference attendee

"One of the benefits of COMMON in addition to the conferences is that the COMMON Web site has valuable technical information available to members only. So even if you can't attend every session, you can still retrieve the session abstracts from the Web, and pick up a lot of knowledge in your desired subject areas." -- John Earl (COMMON Board member), The PowerTech Group, Kent, WA

Conference Education

"One of the things you want is the ability to learn everything you can about that new box you've got. How do I run it, how do I manage it, how do I make it do what I need to do to solve the business issues that I bought it for. Coming to this conference provides me with a place where, whatever level of skill I have, whatever capabilities I start with, I can find an entry point that's going to educate me." -- Bob Boyson (COMMON Board President), 4 Info-Tech, Rochester, MN

"For my first conference, it was very valuable, a lot of information that be used when returning to work. The labs were excellent and well prepared." -- conference attendee

"Following a Course of Study, I've been able to walk away with really focused attention to specific details that I've needed on a day by day basis." -- Andrew Borts, Seta Corporation, Boca Raton, FL

"This is my first time and I learned a lot from all the sessions. Overall I had a chance to clear my IBM system certification, which I passed." -- conference attendee

"It's the best bang for the buck education-wise for the iSeries. You can't find another source where there's as many classes, where you have access to IBM in the way that you do, or access to the kinds of experts that you have." -- conference attendee

"I'm usually able to take two or three little issues that have been plaguing the organization and come up with a solution to do it better, either by talking with the experts here that know how to solve the issues I'm facing, or even by learning something that I didn't know could be done." -- Bev Russell, (COMMON Board member), E.D. Smith & Sons, Ltd, Winona, Ontario

"The people that are doing sessions here are the most skilled people in the industry. No question." -- Bob Boyson

"Ask the Experts"

"Ask the Experts' has its roots in the very essence and spirit of COMMON. ‘COMMON' is a FORTRAN term, which most people won't even remember, but it's about sharing. And COMMON is about sharing knowledge, and one of the strongest points that COMMON has always had, is the availability of the top experts from industry, from IBM, from specific business areas, and business users, from different industries and vertical segments of the market, all coming here with a community spirit and with a will and desire to share the knowledge and expertise that they have. And the best of the best, crème de la crème, comes to this organization, and is available to answer questions. All you need to do is roam around from table to table, and find the interest group that has the answer to your question." -- Rares Pateanu, (COMMON Board member), Bank of Montreal, Toronto, Ontario

"Being able to sit down one-on-one or in a small group with an expert and ask questions, not just in a general session, where you can hear about a topic, but to be able to talk with an expert about your particular issues, is just great." -- conference attendee

"The Expo is especially important to me because I can walk over to the IBM people or the software people, and I have the ability of really grilling them for all the neat information that they know." -- Andrew Borts

Networking

"I've been using IBM for a long time, and I thought joining COMMON was a good thing for me to do. That way I could get a little networking in, and see what other people are doing with the same type of systems that we use." -- conference attendee

"The networking opportunities that COMMON offers are not just with talking to other users, but talking with IBM. When you have a question, it is unbelievably productive to be able to talk to the person at IBM who actually wrote what it is you're trying to understand." -- Charlie Massoglia, (COMMON Board member), Massoglia Technical Consulting, Inc, Okemos, MI

"We're given a lot more opportunities than are available at many conferences to share our knowledge one on one, to discuss one on one with people what they've learned, what they didn't learn, what they think you could do to help them more with their jobs." -- Janet Krueger, (COMMON Board member), consultant, Rochester, MN

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