Face-to-face is how we learn best. Up Close is Oracle Magazine's look at the Oracle user community: its user groups, special interest groups (SIGs), events, and people around the world. With Up Close Video, Oracle Magazine will bring you the personalities behind the magazine column and go deeper into the information, resources, and stories they have to share.
Open Opportunity (video)
By Jeff Erickson
Up Close Interview: Todd Sheetz, IOUG Linux SIG President from Oracle Magazine.
When the Independent Oracle Users Group (IOUG) decided to start a special interest group (SIG) for Linux in 2007, Todd Sheetz saw an opportunity. "I thought there would be no better way to grow my Linux network than to lead the SIG myself." Senior Editor Jeff Erickson met with Sheets over Skype videoconference to learn about his experience.
Read "Open Opportunity" in the July/August 2009 issue of Oracle Magazine.
Seriously Practical (video)
By Jeff Erickson
Up Close Interview: Mike Riley, ODTUG President from Oracle Magazine.
Mike Riley's first brush with a member of the Oracle Development Tools User Group (ODTUG) changed the way he thought about his career. "The consultant on our first Oracle Forms project was a member of ODTUG," Mike recalls. "He showed a willingness to share and teach that I wanted to emulate." By the end of the project Riley was also a member. Senior Editor Jeff Erickson met with Riley at Oracle headquarters in January 2009, soon after he had become the president of ODTUG.
Up Close Interview: Dan Vlamis, BIWA Summit from Oracle Magazine.
A career goal for Dan Vlamis: "To build a community that helps members use the analytical power inside the Oracle Database to its fullest advantage." As a board member for the young and energetic user group for business intelligence, data warehousing, and analytics (BIWA SIG) he's busy fulfilling his ambition. Senior Editor Jeff Erickson spoke with him at the group's annual event, the BIWA Summit.
Steve Lemme credits user group mentoring with several good decisions in his career. Oracle community leaders such as Rich Niemiec, Kevin Loney, and Michael Abbey encouraged Lemme to become a leader in the Oracle community and even to write his own book, Implementing and Managing Oracle Databases. Lemme has gone on to become an accomplished architect and Oracle Master DBA, as well as a magazine columnist, blogger, and user group leader in the IOUG and his local Arizona Oracle Users Group. I caught up with Lemme at OpenWorld to get his advice for those coming to Oracle from recent acquisitions.
Back when Dan Morgan was writing COBOL for a living he got involved in a COBOL-to-Oracle migration project and liked what he saw. "Hey, this thing ain't half bad!" Dan recalls thinking. Fast-forward to 2008: Dan and a fellow University of Washington professor have turned the all-volunteer Puget Sound Oracle Users Group (PSOUG) into a powerhouse regional user community with 4,000 members, an enterprise IT computer lab, and "Oracle Days"—a five-day conference where I caught up with Dan to learn more about him and his experiences at the PSOUG.
Read "Growing with Oracle" in the November/December 2008 issue of Oracle Magazine.
