Data Architect:

“If you are an Oracle DBA and you are allowed one conference a year - COLLABORATE 07 [IOUG Forum] should be the one.”
- Carmilla Brinkley, Greenville Technical College

“IOUG (COLLABORATE 06) gave me the opportunity to learn first hand from peers across the country and the world alternate techniques to effectively and efficiently manage my organization's Oracle databases. IOUG technical sessions have always given me very specific techniques, tips, tricks, and recommendations that I can immediately implement in the Oracle databases I manage. I have definitely become a better DBA over the years thanks to the learning opportunities made available through the technical sessions at IOUG.”
- Julio Aguilar-Chang, Los Alamos National Lab

“The DBA world is changing. Being pro-active and learning new Oracle technology, networking with other DBAs, discussing 'real world' issues and finding better/faster/easier ways to do our tasks are extremely important to all of us. COLLABORATE 06 [IOUG Forum] gave me this opportunity and the knowledge gained and contacts made are invaluable to me and my organization.”
- Dianna Gibbs, Children's Medical Center

“An educational forum such as the IOUG/COLLOBORATE is immensely beneficial to participants in the form of rich interaction with fellow users of the technology, exposure to the practices and opinions of peers in the field and an opportunity to hear best practices being explained by hands on professionals. This community really fosters a sense of belonging to an excellent group of intellectuals who are in the business of enabling and protecting the use of data. Spending a few days with fellow users provides a medium for free and wide communication in a very conducive environment. I recommend every Oracle database professional worth his salt make COLLOBORATE attendance a must to do -annual ritual!!”
- Ramesh Malayappan, DELL INC.

“For many years I attended [other Oracle] conferences. With time I became more and more frustrated with the conference's marketing push and the lack of balanced technical information; i.e., only the positive aspects of a (new) feature are emphasized and its limitations rarely mentioned or suppressed. The marketing push pushed me away from attending after 2001. As a DBA, I need to fully understand all aspects of a feature I am considering using, especially any limitations that might be present. I heard the IOUG encourages balanced feature presentations... something I found to be true at this conference, my first IOUG conference.”
- David Cabrey, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Application Architect:

“I think that the IOUG was a great way to get exposed to a wide variety of educational opportunities. I am a DBA/Developer and attended classes and sessions to support both. It would be difficult to have this kind of exposure this quickly at any other educational forum.”
- Dennis Davis, Oak Ridge National Lab

“I have learned a number of things at IOUG conferences that I have been able to take back to my workplace. The latest was about the web development tool, HTML DB [Application Express]. Since I introduced it to the office two years ago, we have converted four legacy systems and have two more on the go. My co-workers have taken to it with relish.”
- Sue Wi-Afedzi, University of Guelph

”IOUG and COLLABORATE provides the best value in Oracle training, it is an exceptionally well planned and coordinated event that provides the oracle professional regardless of skill level or job description (DBA/developer/manager etc.) with tools he/she needs to succeed professionally.”
- Kenneth Naim, LWCC

“COLLABORATE 06 was an excellent forum for learning about new Oracle technologies, and for exchanging experiences with colleagues from all over the world. The quality of the technical sessions and the presenters exceeded my expectations. An additional benefit of attending the conference was the ability to participate in roundtable discussions or SIG meetings. These meetings provided an excellent environment for exchanging ideas and experiences. I would definitely recommend attending COLLABORATE 07 next year!”
- Maria Anderson, CGI

Infrastructure Architect:

“I attended COLLABORATE 06 with one of my DBAs and it was a very useful event. Areas on SOX and Data Guard are most useful. True information about Oracle application clusters implementation is very valuable to me as decision maker.”
- Owolabi, Veronica Olatimbo, Shell Petroleum Development Company ( Nigeria . Africa )

“I work very closely with Oracle DBAs in my organization, and it was very beneficial to me to attend with two of our DBAs. What I learned will aid us as we address areas such as backup/recovery, upgrades, tuning, security, disaster recovery and hardware upgrades.”
- Loretta Winston, Clemson University

“I brought back 7 new projects to help improve security, backups, and performance from COLLABORATE 06 [IOUG Forum]. The main reason I come to these conferences is to find out what I don't know. I come back motivated to ready and improve myself and my company.”
- Michael Yakus, Omaha Public Power District