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Details on COMMON’s NAViGATE 2021 Conference

The past year has seen an incredible amount of online education, much of it available for free, and much of it produced by local user groups. Amid such abundance, I still believe COMMON’s NAViGATE conference offers an excellent value.

Live, Quick-Hitting 20-Minute Sessions

NAViGATE is scheduled in Columbus, Ohio May 24-26. This is a hybrid event, welcoming in-person and virtual attendees. Regardless of how you attend, the full conference agenda is available to all who sign up. Speakers are also attending in-person and virtually. All session rooms will be equipped with an A/V configuration that combine Zoom sessions and live participation to bring everyone together. All NAViGATE sessions are delivered live—nothing at the conference is pre-recorded. We hope to foster plenty of back and forth engagement for all attendees in Columbus.

However, NAViGATE is different from previous COMMON conferences in other ways. The sessions are just 20 minutes in length. This fast format is intended to give you quick-hitting information for immediate use in the office. Over 250 sessions from 100 speakers populate the agenda. Our speakers represent industry leaders from around the globe.

‘Office Hours’ and an Expo

These short sessions are organized into blocks of five or six, with each block covering similar themes, such as application development, database, systems management and more. At the end of each block, there are specific “Office Hours” where attendees can ask questions, meet one-on-one with IBM i experts and gain deeper insight into particular topics. Each “Office Hour” session focuses on a specific topic area and will have at least one expert speaker hosting for further knowledge-sharing.

NAViGATE also features an expo, where you can talk to vendor representatives. Note that expo hours differ for those who attend in person and those who stop by on the internet.

I will be speaking in person at three sessions. I look forward to meeting with and talking to attendees whether they show up live or on my Zoom screen.

You can learn more about NAViGATE and register here.