Get Social with IBM i
Dawn May shares resources for collaborating with other IBM i users online.
In the article “How to Find Everything and Anything About IBM i,” I discussed finding documentation and information about IBM i.
And now I want to highlight a few active social networks within the IBM i community that you should participate in. Below are online groups that you can use to share information with others, learn what others share, as well as discover more online resources.
While Twitter isn’t a website for IBM i information per say, you can find helpful tweets from IBM i experts on technical topics as well as IBM i and Power Systems marketing information. Hashtags such as #IBMi, #IBMiOSS, #PowerSystems and #COMMONug can be searched to find applicable tweets. There are a lot of IBM i experts that post tips and useful information to twitter—so find a few and follow them. I can be found by my Twitter handle @DawnMayiCan.
Slack
Slack is a team collaboration tool available for free use. An IBM i Community workspace has been set up to share information about IBM i. It includes information on announcements, introductions, user groups, and a general chat channel. This link is the invitation to this IBM i community. Please join and introduce yourself.
LinkedIn Groups
LinkedIn is a great social networking site for professionals. You can connect with your peers, read articles and post information. LinkedIn also has several IBM i centric groups: IBM i Professionals, IBM i, iSeries, and AS/400 Professionals, and the PowerVM group, among others.
Midrange.com
Midrange.com is probably best known for the MIDRANGE-L mailing list, but there are additional mailing lists on a variety of topics and they all have searchable archives. Participation is available via a free subscription. They also host a midrangeWiki.
Blogs
In addition to the above, there are all sorts of blogs written by others in the IBM i community. There are also many web sites by partners, software vendors, and others that provide helpful information. These are simply too numerous to mention. An internet search can be useful in finding information, but always validate what you discover online.