RPG & DB2 Summit Expands for October

Early registration exceeds final April 2009 attendance by 20%

Newton, NJ - September 2, 2009 - System i Developer, the consortium of four top educators on IBM i development technologies, today announces that as of August 31, registration for their October 2009 RPG & DB2 Summit had already surpassed the number of attendees at the April 2009 event by 20%. Registration will continue for six more weeks, until October 13.

In addition, exhibition space for the Vendor Showcase sold out by August 31.

The conference hotel, the Sofitel Minneapolis, confirmed that it has expanded the Summit room block to accommodate new registrants. People who register for the conference and hotel by September 25 will receive a discounted room rate of $99 per night.

Conference organizers attribute the early success of the upcoming RPG & DB2 Summit to three factors. First, the Summit curriculum fills a vital need for training among RPG and DB2 developers. Although many companies have asked developers to delay training, new projects often require updated skills. Second, System i Developer catered to tight budgets by holding registration rates at 2007 levels and negotiating low hotel rates. And third, the economy is showing signs of recovery, encouraging some organizations to release previously frozen funds for training.

"Clearly it's too early to claim strong economic recovery in the IBM i market, but it's encouraging to see our registration numbers tracking pre-recession levels," says Skip Marchesani, partner at System i Developer. "We were hoping for higher attendance than we had in April, but we never imagined we'd achieve that goal so early."

In related news, System i Developer is delighted to announce that Ian Jarman, IBM's Manager of Power Systems Software, will deliver the Keynote Address on Wednesday, October 14 at 8:00 am. He is expected to share the latest on upcoming IBM i developments with RPG & DB2 Summit attendees.

System i Developer partners Susan Gantner, Jon Paris, Paul Tuohy and Skip Marchesani host the RPG & DB2 Summit and lead the speaker lineup, which is rounded out by experts Scott Klement, Barbara Morris, Mike Cain, Kent Milligan, Bruce Vining and Aaron Bartell.

With major updates for 2009, the agenda covers practical, in-depth, use-it-today tips and techniques on topics ranging from RPG IV to SQL to modernizing program architecture as well as user interfaces.

In addition, four optional half-day Headstart Seminars on Monday, October 12 offer attendees an opportunity to focus on specific topics prior to attending the conference. For the October event, topics include SQL, PHP, Subprocedures and Service Programs, and HTML/Javascript/CSS for RPG developers.

The RPG & DB2 Summit is sponsored by three leading media organizations, IBM Systems Magazine, System iNetwork and MC Press Online.

For more information on attending the RPG & DB2 Summit, visit www.systemideveloper.com, email conference registration or call 802-496-3397 (toll-free 866-716-5409).