See you at IDUG EMEA, in person or as virtual attendee

The 2024 IDUG EMEA Db2 Tech Conference is just around the corner, starting the next weekend. You can still register to attend either in person in Valencia, Spain, or to follow virtually via streamed sessions. Because I use this blog to find my own stuff, here are some links to keep handy.

Get ready for IDUG North America Db2 Tech Conference

In about a week (June 23-27), IDUG North America Db2 Tech Conference is going to start. Are you already registered and will attend either on-site or virtually? Agendas for on-site attendees and the virtual participants have been posted. 

"Breakfast Buffet Available" is something you only find on the on-site agenda. As I am to attend virtually, I will have to stack up food and drinks and get ready for an exciting week of technical talks related to Db2 for z/OS and Db2 for Linux, UNIX, and Windows.

Registration for IDUG EMEA 2024 Db2 Tech Conference is now open

IDUG, the International Db2 User Group, just announced that the registration for its EMEA conference in Valencia, Spain, this Fall is now open. You can find the details about the currently available conference packages by going to the IDUG EMEA 2024 Db2 Tech Conference page. Right now, an early bird rate, a special rate for first time attendees, and for virtual participants is available. Moreover, you can also register for the Db2 for z/OS and for the Db2 for LUW Fundamentals courses.

DeDUG: German Db2 User Group meeting February 2nd

The year 2024 is still young and a great event is coming up in about three weeks. DeDUG, the German Db2 User Group, is having their first meeting on February 2nd and is going to be at Atruvia in Karlsruhe. Best of all, I plan to attend and even give a talk. Currently, the agenda lists me with "Unicode und Db2", but I have renamed it to "How to treat 💔💔💔 (broken hearts) with Db2". It hopefully is a great start into February with carnival and Valentine's Day.

Am I going to meet you in Karlsruhe? Please make sure to register.

🎃 Unicode characters and Db2 🕸️ 🏚️

A smiley query in Db2

Recently, I had a discussion about Unicode characters and Db2. Since Db2 LUW version 9.5, new databases default to the Unicode code page. Instead of having the entire database in the Unicode code page, you can specify a CCSID (coded character set identifier) for either individual columns or the whole table when creating the table (isn't that 😱?). Our discussion was not around emojis (😀) and Halloween (🎃), but "business" - the Euro sign (€). How can you insert and retrieve Unicode characters when you know their code points? Let's take a look and have some fun...

What a community event: IDUG 2023 EMEA Db2 Tech Conference in Prague

IDUG and Db2 celebration with cake

Last week, we had a great Db2 conference in Prague. It was a real community event. We had more than 530 attendees, about 426 of them were on-site, the others virtual in three (out of seven) streamed tracks. During the opening of the expo on Monday, a special birthday cake was served, celebrating 40 years of Db2 for z/OS, 30 years of Db2 for Linux, UNIX, and Windows, and 35 years of IDUG - the International Db2 User Group.

Last days of early bird rate for IDUG 2023 EMEA Db2 Tech Conference

Well, check out the IDUG 2023 EMEA Db2 Tech Conference website. If you want to use the early bird rate to register with a heavy discount, you have to hurry up. It is only available until September 1st. There is another rebate available, but it only works once: First-timer rate. And remember that the conference is already next month, in Prague.

I am already registered and will present. And I am eager to meet you there. So register, too...

IDUG 2023 EMEA Db2 Tech Conference in Prague in October

Screenshot of IDUG website

Summer vacation is coming up, but there are certain things to take care of before. One of such things is to register for the upcoming IDUG 2023 EMEA Db2 Tech Conference. The conference is held at the Prague Congress Centre, Czech Republic, this year and runs from October 15-19. It is the main gathering for European users of IBM Db2.

Dates for the IDUG Db2 Tech conferences in 2023

IDUG: International Db2 User Group

Just in time for the holidays, IDUG (International Db2 User Group) has announced the dates and locations for their user group conferences in North America and in Europe:

• 2023 IDUG NA Db2 Tech Conference will be in Philadelphia and is planned from May 16-19. As a change from previous years, the event will start on a Tuesday. The call for presentations is closing end of this month, December 31st. Check the website for details.
  
• 2023 IDUG EMEA Db2 Techn Conference is planned for October 16-19 Prague. With those dates, the event is back to a start on Monday. The call for presentations is not live yet, but expect it soon.

Enjoy the holidays.

IDUG 2022 EMEA conference is over - keep it going

"IDUG 2023 EMEA will be in"

The IDUG 2022 EMEA Db2 Tech Conference is over. What a week it was! Hard work, not much sleep, technical education, in-person networking, fun, and much more. After getting home, I needed two days and especially the nights to recharge, then the last week to reflect. Here are my random thoughts...

Database event in Edinburgh: IDUG 2022 EMEA Db2 Tech Conference

IDUG 2022 Db2 Tech Conference

Two months are left before the IDUG 2022 EMEA Db2 Tech Conference is to begin. After two years of virtual-only events, this conference marks a new start for the (mostly) European part of the Db2 community, the International Db2 User Group (IDUG). Last month, the IDUG 2022 NA conference in Boston, USA, showed the value of face-to-face events. Networking, formal and informal exchange of information, education, certification, and some fun. So what to expect from the conference in October?

IDUG EMEA 2022 Tech Conference: Call for presentations open

Submit your Db2 presentation now

This is a rather short (and quick) post. Have you seen that the CfP (Call for Presentations) for the Db2 conference in Scotland scheduled for October is open? The IDUG 2022 EMEA Db2 Tech Conference will be held in Edinburgh, Scotland, from October 22-26 this year (for sure, I promise!). Because IDUG is the International Db2 User Group and hence is organized by users and lives from user participation the conference planning committee is hoping for many submissions by users.

Do you know how to install Db2 or connect to it? Have you successfully retrieved query results, in a program written in Python, Node.js, Cobol, Go or C++? Have you provisioned Db2 on Cloud, pulled the container image with Db2 Warehouse and deployed it? If you answered yes to one of these questions, go ahead and submit a presentation, share your experience!

I expect the CfP to be open until end of April.

If you have feedback, suggestions, or questions about this post, please reach out to me on Twitter (@data_henrik) or LinkedIn.

Get educated: The IDUG Virtual 2021 EMEA Db2 Tech Conference is coming up

The virtual Db2 conference is coming up

Do you remember meeting in person, at a conference? Well, hang on to that memory because the International Db2 User Group (IDUG) conference for EMEA is going to be virtual again this year. The "IDUG Virtual 2021 EMEA Db2 Tech Conference" is scheduled for December 6-10. If you have not registered, I recommend doing it. Here are some highlights and links to explore further.

Db2 11.5.6 is available

You probably already have noticed that a new release of Db2 for Linux, UNIX, and Windows is available, Db2 11.5.6. You can download the Db2 Fix Pack via the usual support site. The related documentation highlights the following features:

• Improved high availability with Advanced Log Space Management,
• Graph modeling and analysis of Db2 data using IBM Db2 Graph,
• Restrictions lifted on accessing column-organized tables
• Technical preview update to Machine Learning Optimizer
• New Click-to-Containerize utility

Aside from the highlights page, I usually go over the enhancements by category. Here are my personal highlights:

• The SQL enhancements include new NOWAIT and WAIT clauses for SELECT, UPDATE and DELETE statements. You can now specify at the statement level how many seconds to wait for locks. 
• High availability, backup, resiliency, and recovery enhancements lists improvement to ADMIN_MOVE_TABLE and also has news on pacemaker. 
• And in terms of Workload management enhancements, you can now enable the Adapte Workload Manager.

I am sure that we are going to learn all the details at the IDUG EMEA 2021 conference in Edinburgh, Scotland, in October. Mark your calendars.

Details available: IDUG EMEA 2020 as virtual conference

In August I already mentioned that the Db2 conference IDUG EMEA 2020 goes virtual. Now, the details are available, including the agenda - so-called virtual grid. The virtual conference will offer three tracks. One is for Db2 for z/OS, one for Db2 (LUW), and one track is dedicated to application development topics. Pricing is similar to the Db2 North America conference with $199 for a regular ticket and $99 if you are IDUG premium member. So, with no further ado, head over to the IDUG website, check out the agenda and register. I hope to see you in November.

BTW: I recently participated in another virtual conference. The organizers sent out some goodies ahead of the conference, including yummy cookies.

IDUG EMEA 2020 goes virtual, moved to November 16-19

My favorite database conference, the European IDUG (International Db2 User Group) meeting, just announced to go virtual for the IDUG EMEA 2020. The conference was planned to take place in Edinburgh, Scottland, in October. It is going to be held as virtual conference and was moved to November 16-19. Right now, it is planned to have IDUG EMEA 2021 in Edinburgh from October 17-21, 2021. So mark your calendars and keep your fingers crossed.

The recent meeting of the German Db2 User Group, DeDUG, was also a virtual event.

Update (2020-08-25): Seems the communicated dates were not final and I removed them for now.

Update (2020-08-26): Added information on IDUG EMEA 2021 and re-added November dates.

25th meeting of German Db2 User Group

Celebrating the 25th DeDUG meeting

Last Friday, the 25th meeting of the German Db2 User Group was held, this time hosted by Fiducia & GAD IT AG in Karlsruhe. As usual, it was both a great networking and informative event. I had the opportunity to catch up with many Db2 users - customers, partner and IBMers. Moreover, similar to a couple of previous meetings, I had the after-lunch talk, this time featuring Db2 on Cloud security topics.

asd765 cloud 87ohhlj db2 askh security xbas chatbot

If you came here and wondered about the blog title, then read on. I plan to write about a couple of mixed, seemingly random topics. Why not express that in today's blog title...? :) It is almost end of the year and here is some news I wanted to share with you before the holidays.

Get some REST with Db2

Db2 has a REST API

Many of the IBM Cloud services have a REST API, an overview of REST APIs is here in the IBM Cloud docs. Recently, I realized that I had not yet tried the Db2 on Cloud API and the API for Db2 Warehouse on Cloud. Thus, last Friday I took some time to test out some code using one of my Db2 instances on IBM Cloud. Here is what you need to get started....

After IDUG is before IDUG: Back from Db2 conference in Charlotte, NC

Last week the IDUG NA 2019 was held in Charlotte, NC. It featured 8 parallel tracks dedicated to Db2 for z/OS and Db2 for LUW and emerging technologies. In addition, two tracks for hands-on labs and workshops were offered. Personally, I delivered three presentations, moderated and attended sessions, and was active on Twitter. So what was on? Continue after the snap of Twitter photos from last week.

Twitter photo feed from IDUG NA 2019