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Who is going to RPG World in Orlando next week?

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  • Who is going to RPG World in Orlando next week?

    I won't be there, but I'll be at COMMON in Toronto. Anybody going there? chuck Opinions expressed are not necessarily those of my employer. "Jefferson" wrote in message news:6b175547.-1@WebX.WawyahGHajS... > I'm signed up, paid, and packing my bags. > > Hope to see some of you down there. Who's all going? Where are you from? > > I've got a 12 hour trip from Northern California.

  • #2
    Who is going to RPG World in Orlando next week?

    I wish I could go to all of the events. IMO conferences are a great way to catch up on events, get an education, schmooz, and generally enjoy oneself. The most basic problem is one of expense. As an independent it comes out of my own wallet, and the lost billing time compounds the expense exponentially. Dave

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    • #3
      Who is going to RPG World in Orlando next week?

      David, There are advantages to being an employee over independent. Not only are conferences and technical education covered by the employer, I had my entire MBA program paid by my employer to the tune of about $31,000. chuck Opinions expressed are not necessarily those of my employer. "David Abramowitz" wrote in message news:6b175547.1@WebX.WawyahGHajS... > I wish I could go to all of the events. IMO conferences are a great way to catch up on events, get an education, schmooz, and generally enjoy oneself. > > The most basic problem is one of expense. As an independent it comes out of my own wallet, and the lost billing time compounds the expense exponentially. > > Dave

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      • #4
        Who is going to RPG World in Orlando next week?

        Chuck Ackerman wrote: There are advantages to being an employee over independent. Yes, I know that Chuck. There are also advantages of being independent over being an employee. . . . . . I hope you understand that as much as I understand your point. To me, it all boiled down to personality. I was manager of a small System/34 shop when I decided to incorporate and market A/R and F/A packages I had developed. I soon discovered that consulting gigs were very lucrative, and occupied most of my time. Not only that, but I enjoyed the experience. It has been near a quarter century since that time. Short term gigs to me are every bit as exciting as long term. I look forward to entering new environments. Have there been a few clunkers along the way? Sure, but you pays your nickel and you takes your chances. Has downtime ever scared me? Sure, but it has never been enough to make me change my mind. Do I miss management? Yeah, sometimes, but the feeling soon passes. My last five clients have been repeaters. I have stayed so long in some gigs that if I were an employee, I would have attained seniority. I have also had assignments lasting less than a week.. . . .That's by design if you don't mind. In February I will be leaving a client (hint to recruiters). I have had a relationship with this firm going back to 1986. This firm will be closing its doors in the NY area. I am as saddenned by this course of events as much as any employee. For certain, I have had my share of good fortune, but I would like to think that skill and caring have also played a part. I like what I do, and how I do it, and hopefully it shows. To paraphrase an old "Saturday Night Live" line: Consulting has been very very good to me. Dave

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        • #5
          Who is going to RPG World in Orlando next week?

          David said: "Yes, I know that Chuck. There are also advantages of being independent over being an employee. . . . . . I hope you understand that as much as I understand your point." Oh, I do. There have been times where I have been tempted to move over to the "dark side." In fact, I've done some consulting between jobs over time. However, my first job out of college was in management. I was pretty green but I was given a chance. (I often say that, looking back on it, I wouldn't have hired me!) I grew to love the management part as much as the technical side. I really enjoy mentoring others and seeing them grow with each new project. I still enjoy dabbling in programming and, because of that, I'll never work for a large shop where it's all administrative. Unfortunately, I don't have time for long, involved programming tasks so I just cherry pick the interesting quick, fascinating projects. Often times I do the "cutting edge" stuff (cutting edge for our shop, that is) so that I can pass along the things I learn to my staff. I feel a strong responsibility that I wouldn't ask my staff to do things I don't understand myself. They need to know that they can come to me if they're stumped and I can prod them along. It's the management part that I'd miss as an independent. chuck Opinions expressed are not necessarily those of my employer.

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          • #6
            Who is going to RPG World in Orlando next week?

            Chuck Ackerman wrote: It's the management part that I'd miss as an independent. Here's where the premise would be incorrect. Working as an independent and working as management are not mutually exclusive. The level of authority granted to the independent depends on the particular circumstances of the gig, as well as the background and skill set of the independent. Perhaps you would not want an independent in your shop set up as Project Manager of a particular requirement, but this, and other situations are far more common than you may think. Dave

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            • #7
              Who is going to RPG World in Orlando next week?

              There is no question that training is worth the price. There are a few seminars out there that are pretty poor, but in this 'iSeries' field there are a number of quality venues. I've been to IBM technical conferences, Common's, and some certified Project Management training. All of them were worth way more than the price of admission, with travel expenses. I'm sure that RPG World will be no exception. I know you all know that, but sometimes we need to repeat it. I'm very lucky that my current employer has it in the budget. But they are smart enough to realize that our brand new $250k i5 machine will be better utilized with quality skills. Dave, I admire you for taking the 'plunge' as an independent. I know the market has taken a downturn for consulting ever since we put Y2K behind us. I have one suggestion for you. It used to be that COMMON would give you a free admission if you were an instructor. I'm sure with your skills you could sign up to teach a class or two, and they would give you a free pass. Of course you would still have to pay for lodging and travel, but save a nice $1200 bill in the process. Chuck, I really wanted to go to that Toronto Common. Looks like a great one! However it didn't fit in my schedule and a coworker of mine was going to go instead. Now it turns out our employer (The State Government) has some issues about traveling out of the country. So consider yourself lucky and enjoy!

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              • #8
                Who is going to RPG World in Orlando next week?

                Thanks for the thought, but I plunged a loooooong time ago. I tried to get a press pass to write articles about previous COMMON conferences, but no dice. I will occasionally give talks before local user groups, but TTBOMK COMMON schedules its speakers months in advance. Dave

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                • #9
                  Who is going to RPG World in Orlando next week?

                  I'm signed up, paid, and packing my bags. Hope to see some of you down there. Who's all going? Where are you from? I've got a 12 hour trip from Northern California.

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                  • #10
                    Who is going to RPG World in Orlando next week?

                    Oh Boy, RPG World is going to be great. But flying into a Hurricane? Well Bob, Jon, Susan, and the rest are worth it...

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