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Below are UNITE articles published in the Unisphere 5 Minute Briefing Online Newsletters.
2010 March
UNITE Presents New Best of Conference Webcasts
UNITE, the International Unisys User Association, and Unisys have teamed up to make available two of the award-winning presentations from the 2009 UNITE Conference in Minneapolis, Minn. Through these UNITE webcasts attendees can experience a sample of the kind of in-depth sessions that are available at every UNITE conference.
In a one-hour webcast on Wednesday, March 31, from 11 am to 12 noon ET, Jim Malnati, automation consultant, Unisys Corporation, will present “Supporting the Olympics with ClearPath” and on Wednesday, April 28, from 11 am to 12 noon ET, George E. McGowan, Jr., CPA, and president, McGowan Computer Associates, Inc. will present “Automated Test Tool.”
Malnati’s presentation focuses on the story of how Unisys provided TravelSky with the platform to successfully handle the business volumes for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Faced with phenomenal growth and huge transaction volumes, automation was the only option to support the workload and deliver the service. Malnati describes the advanced disaster recovery, workflow management, and shared component automation implemented at TravelSky and other clients worldwide.
McGowan’s presentation spotlights ATT, the new, exciting capability in AB Suite 2.0 that enables developers to easily capture and edit test cases with real-world clients, and then play them back automatically at any time. It is a quick and easy way to provide unit and regression testing for AB Suite applications. The result is improved productivity and application quality. This lab will takes attendees through creation of a test suite, editing the validation criteria, and then playback of a test session to check for regressions in their application.
The next UNITE Conference will be held May 23-26, 2010, at the Baltimore Marriott Waterfront Hotel in Baltimore, Md. For more information, go here.
To register, go here.
To register for the upcoming webcasts, go here.
2010 February
Come Learn and Play with Us!
There are a lot of things to be gained from attending a UNITE Conference – education and training, hands on labs, release updates, professional networking and opportunities to make contacts, access to engineers from Unisys and other vendors, and much more. We hope that along with all of the professional development our attendees will also have some fun, and Baltimore provides plenty of opportunities. While our Conference Planning Committee is busy preparing another excellent program, take a look at what is available for entertainment at the conference location.
The Baltimore Marriott Waterfront Hotel is located right on the inner harbor waterfront. Let’s start with the most popular attraction on the inner harbor waterfront, the Baltimore National Aquarium. The aquarium has thousands of marine life specimens and a special Australia exhibit and is approximately one-half mile from the hotel. More information can be found here: http://baltimore.org/attractions/11329/
Another popular attraction on the inner harbor is the Spirit Cruises. There are two options – a 75 minute sight seeing cruise or a dining cruise. For more information, go here: http://www.spiritcruisesbaltimore.com/bc/index.jsp
If you like history, the inner harbor has the oldest war ship that is still afloat – the USS Constellation. You can also easily visit Fort McHenry, the site of the War Of 1812 battle that inspired the U.S. National Anthem. Here is more information on these and other historical attractions: http://baltimore.org/arts-and-culture/historical-attractions
If you are a sports fan, the Baltimore Orioles baseball team will be playing a 3 game home stand against the Oakland A’s during the conference week on Tuesday through Thursday. The baseball stadium, Camden Yards, is only about a mile from the hotel and is considered one of the best ballparks to watch a baseball game. For more information on the Orioles, go here: http://baltimore.orioles.mlb.com/bal/ballpark/index.jsp
There is also a nationally renowned horseracing track – Pimlico – where the Preakness Stakes will be run on May 15. This is the second leg of America’s Triple Crown. For a day at the track, here is the Pimlico web site: http://www.pimlico.com/
A more unusual (for some) sport is also available – women’s roller derby, The Charm City Rollergirls. They have a match scheduled for May 22 – the Saturday before the conference. More information is available at http://charmcityrollergirls.com/
For dining options and nightlife, the list is long and varied. The hotel web site lists restaurants near the hotel on this page: http://www.marriott.com/hotels/hotel-information/restaurant/bwiwf-baltimore-marriott-waterfront/ or for an even longer list, you can go here: http://baltimore.org/dining-and-nightlife/ For those who enjoy shopping, here is a list to peruse: http://baltimore.org/shopping-and-more/
We would be remiss if we fail to point out that the room rate we have secured at the conference hotel is an exceptionally good deal. It is substantially lower than the normal rate for the hotel which is advertised at well over $200. This is a 4 star AAA rated hotel. You will feel luxurious for about half the price you would expect to pay for a hotel of this quality.
Start making your plans for Baltimore in May. And remember, if you miss this conference there will not be another one until 2011.
See you there!
2010 January
UNITE 2010 Annual Technology Conference May 23- 26, 2010, Baltimore Marriott Waterfront Hotel Baltimore, Maryland – Plan to attend the UNITE Annual Technology Conference in May. This is the place to get involved with your industry Association to build partnerships, share best practices, and address specific issues related to your business.
At the Marriott Waterfront Hotel you will experience a unique showcase of style and downtown sophistication – just steps from restaurants and shops at the Inner Harbor, the National Aquarium, Maryland Science Center and USS Constellation. Hotel amenities include an indoor swimming pool, fitness center (complimentary use for guests, open 24 hours) and high-speed Internet (complimentary for UNITE conference attendees).
Onsite Dining: Grille 700: A stunning waterfront restaurant that features American cuisine. The seasonal menu offers fresh, local ingredients & celebrates Baltimore’s rich culinary tradition. Rigano's Bakery and Deli: This bakery and delicatessen offers take-out, snacks, deli items, baked goods and Starbucks. Kozmo’s Lounge: This upscale martini bar features some of the world's finest wines, beers, and spirits in addition to its selection of creative martinis. With a light fare menu and a casually elegant atmosphere to match.
Special UNITE Hotel Rate - $149.00 (single/double) plus applicable state and local taxes. This special rate is available three days prior to the conference and three days following the conference subject to availability.
Baltimore offers a wide range of area attractions, landmarks and restaurants so consider coming in a few days early or stay a few days after the conference to enjoy the surrounding sites.
Check the UNITE website www.unite.org and your e-mail for details about the conference as they become available.
2009 December
Annual UNITE Conference Moves Up to Spring 2010 – At the recent UNITE conference in Minneapolis it was announced that the 2010 conference would be in San Antonio in November. During the conference, UNITE surveyed its constituents, including members, vendors and Unisys, by using focus groups and other discussions. This initiative looked at a number of factors impacting the conference-among them timing, location and cost. The consensus from this effort showed that a spring conference would be most effective for all parties. The UNITE board of directors has therefore decided to move the conference to May 2010.
UNITE has reserved dates in May 2010 and is currently in final negotiations with a hotel. UNITE will have an announcement of the new venue and dates before the end of the year.
Check the UNITE website, your email or call the UNITE office for more details and exact dates and location.
2009 November
Postcard from the UNITE 2009 Conference—Invigorate Your Data Center – The UNITE 2009 conference, themed "Invigorate Your Data Center," concludes today in Minneapolis. "People come to the conference because we just have incredibly good content; we have presenters both from Unisys and from the user community," Marian Ritland, vice chairman of the UNITE board, tells 5 Minute Briefing. "We had really good sessions and got lots of good comments about the sessions." Virtually all of the vendors signed up for the new show next year which will be in San Antonio, she adds. Like many other conferences this year, attendance at UNITE was down a bit due to the economy-by 20% this year over last, Ritland says.
"We were lucky enough to have Ed Coleman, chairman and CEO of Unisys, keynote the conference and we were very impressed with him. He is a real down-to-earth kind of guy. He spent probably the last half hour of his presentation taking questions from the audience," Ritland says, noting that Coleman talked about coming to Unisys and tackling the tough job of removing some of the extra corporate layers that didn't make sense for a company the size it is today. Despite the difficulty of that challenge, she adds, "I have not found a Unisys employee that is not incredibly impressed with him." Ritland also said that at UNITE, Coleman talked about the importance of Unisys maintaining profitability. "If they are profitable, then they are viable," she said. "He has already gotten results in a year, which is amazing especially in this economy."
UNITE also had a second keynote on Tuesday from Bob Supnik, who is vice president and general manager, Product Development and Technology/Supply Chain Operations and S&T's CTO. "He gave a more technical talk about some of the things Unisys is doing and the goals the company has. He did his best to give us the vision that they have for the future and I was certainly impressed with some of the things they are doing," Ritland says. At the end of the speech, Supnik talked about why he came to Unisys and explained that it was because of the people that work at Unisys, the technology, and the customers. According to Ritland, Supnik was impressed with the way that when a customer had a problem, "everybody just knew that the main issue was to solve the problem for the customer. And, I have felt that way many times over the years, too. They have always been incredibly responsive and it was nice to hear someone new to the corporation see that so clearly."
In other conference news, Ritland was re-elected to the UNITE board of directors; and F. Guy Bonney and Jim Shelton were elected to fill the additional two open board positions.
2009 October
Invigorate Your Data Center at the UNITE Annual Technology Conference – This year's UNITE Annual Technology Conference with the theme "Invigorate Your Data Center" will be held November 8-11 at the Hyatt Regency Minneapolis Hotel, Minneapolis, Minn.
Conference highlights and events include Data Center Transformation sessions. The session "No Do Overs - Get Virtualization Right the First Time" will explore use of a decision framework that can help you make the right choices to meet your IT performance and consolidation goals. In this deep look at server virtualization decision making, you will learn the factors to consider, how to juggle them to meet your enterprise needs and how to significantly reduce your TCO.
A panel discussion entitled "To Virtualize or not to Virtualize? How Your Business Can Benefit from Virtualization" will clarify how virtualization and consolidation are best used, through an interactive discussion with Unisys experts who will talk about the practical application and pitfalls. This session is designed to provide a forum for you to ask general questions such as "What is it and how does it relate to my organization?" to specific "How does virtualizing an OLTP environment differ from an OLAP environment?"
Take advantage of the opportunity to visit with and hear about products and services the vendors are offering at the Exhibit Hall. And make sure to get your bingo card stamped at the participating vendors to be entered into a drawing for some great prizes. Visit with your colleagues at the Unisys and EMC hosted reception on Monday evening.
Meet Unisys Engineers from Roseville, Mission Viejo, Tredyffrin, Melbourne, Australia and Bangalore, India, who will be attending the UNITE conference throughout the week. This is a great opportunity to meet the Unisys top engineering experts to discuss your specific issues and questions.
See the candidates running for the Board of Directors. Hear what they have to say at a Q&A session on Monday, November 9, 2009 from 12:45 PM to 1:30 PM. Support your user association by making your vote count!
Unisys will be hosting a Business Information Server Symposium on November 12 -13, 2009 in Roseville, Minn. following the UNITE Conference. You will have an opportunity to discuss where you would like to see BIS go in the future with Engineering and Marketing. The BIS team will focus on the soon to be released BIS 11 and its feature content.
With its Best of Conference Webcast, UNITE is providing an opportunity to hear from one of the UNITE 2008 Best of Conference Award recipients and experience a sampling of some of the informative and valuable sessions that will be available at the 2009 Conference. Register for the "AB Suite and Visual Studio Guided Tour" webcast presented by Grant McCauley from Unisys ACUS on October 16, 2009.
Read about the sessions, labs and other conference offerings at the UNITE website. Check out the conference program and don't forget to prepare your own personal schedule. Register now and make your online hotel reservation at the Hyatt Hotel.
2009 September
Ed Coleman and Bob Supnik to be Featured Keynote Speakers at UNITE 2009; Special Registration Rate Extended – Ed Coleman, chairman and CEO of Unisys since October 2008, will be a featured keynote speaker at UNITE 2009. With the theme, "Invigorate Your Data Center," the conference will be held at the Hyatt Regency Minneapolis Hotel November 8-11, 2009.
"This will be Ed Coleman's first opportunity to meet with UNITE delegates and we certainly expect a very large turnout for that," George McGowan, chairman of UNITE, tells 5 Minute Briefing. Coleman will be talking about the direction he is taking Unisys in and he will also participate in a question-and-answer period similar to the one done last year by Unisys' Rich Marcello. "That proved to be a very exciting opportunity for delegates to ask specific questions," McGowan notes, adding that Coleman is known as "straight shooter and a very down-to-earth guy."
Bob Supnik will be the second keynote speaker. Supnik, who is vice president and general manager, Product Development and Technology/Supply Chain Operations and S&T's CTO, joined Unisys in 2008. He will discuss the investment that Unisys has in ClearPath and modernization of that platform.
The conference will also feature hands-on labs again this year, says McGowan, "I believe there are going to be hands-on labs in almost every session throughout the conference starting Sunday afternoon and going through the close of the conference."
Conference sessions are divided among five tracks, including MCP, OS 2200, Windows Enterprise Servers, BIS, EAE/LINC, and a general track. Following the conference there will also be a two-day BIS Symposium, providing an opportunity for participants to gain in-depth information about the current release.
With the proximity to Unisys's Roseville site, the conference will also provide an opportunity for attendees to interact with Unisys' engineering staff. While Minneapolis is not known as resort town, UNITE conferences held there typically have the highest attendance, says McGowan. "You are not going there to get a suntan. You are going there to get knowledge and interact with other delegates. We are hoping that even with the economy, that people will look at the value that we have to offer in these four days and come up to Minneapolis with us."
The special rate for loyal UNITE members has been extended to October 9, 2009.
2009 August
2009 UNITE Conference Registration Incentive Programs Extended to August 31 – In response to current economic conditions, UNITE, the International Unisys User Association, has extended its loyal member incentive program to August 31, 2009.
The 2009 UNITE Conference will be held November 8-11, 2009 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Minneapolis, Minn.
This year, Ed Coleman, Unisys chairman, will kick off the conference at the Monday Opening General Session. On Tuesday, attendees will hear from Bob Supnik, Unisys vice president and general manager, product development and technology/supply chain operations, and S&T chief technology officer.
Check out the Conference-at-a-Glance on the UNITE website to view the conference session offerings and the Personal Schedule System (PSS) for complete abstract descriptions and to prepare your personal schedule. By using this personal schedule system to build a personal agenda, attendees are guaranteed to receive the latest information of any changes to the session via email. Late-breaking session changes will be emailed to all delegates registered for a session from now until the start of the conference.
2009 July
UNITE Makes Plans for Upcoming Conference – UNITE, the International Unisys User Association, recently completed two webcasts offered exclusively for UNITE members. One of the benefits of being a UNITE member is the opportunity to take advantage of these types of programs.
The upcoming 2009 UNITE Conference will be held November 8-11 at the Hyatt Regency Minneapolis Hotel, providing an t opportunity for Unisys users to network and talk to other users as well as meet with Unisys engineers attending the conference. Because the Minneapolis conference is close to the OS 2200 development plant, it will be possible for many 2200 engineers to be present.
A limited time offer ends July 31, 2009, and is available to organizations that attended the 2008 Orlando conference, the 2007 Valley Forge conference or the 2006 Anaheim conference. Eligible organizations that register and pay by July 31 can register any number of attendees for a special rate of only $1,225 each.
The UNITE conference planning team is in the process of finalizing the conference agenda. Look for it on the UNITE website within the next couple of weeks. In the meantime, visit the UNITE website to keep in touch about the upcoming 2009 Conference and additional UNITE offerings. Check out the incentive programs for conference registration savings, make your online hotel reservations at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, and register online for the conference.
2009 June
New Unisys Chairman Edward J. Coleman to Kick Off 2009 UNITE Conference – Make plans now to attend the 2009 UNITE Conference, sponsored by the International Unisys User Association, November 8-11, 2009 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Minneapolis, Minn.
There are many aspects of UNITE and the upcoming conference that can provide value to you and your organization. A few of these are: Come and hear the new Chairman of Unisys - Edward J. Coleman will kick off the conference at the Opening General Session on Monday morning. Share your expertise - Consider being a speaker. What a great opportunity to share your experiences with the other UNITE members. Check out the call for papers and wish list. Support your organization - Consider running for the Board of Directors, Working Group Official or Conference Moderator. Interested? Contact the UNITE office for additional information at
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
. BIS Symposium - Following the UNITE Conference, the Unisys BIS organization is hosting a BIS Symposium at the Unisys Roseville Facility on Thursday and Friday, November 12-13. Best of Conference Webinars - This summer UNITE and the Unisys eCommunity will be hosting two of the 2008 UNITE Best of Conference presentations as webinars.
The conference agenda will be posted on the UNITE website in early July. In the meantime, visit the UNITE website to keep in touch about the upcoming 2009 Conference and additional UNITE offerings. Check out the incentive programs for conference registration savings, make your online hotel reservations at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, and register online for the conference.
2009 May
Make Plans Now to Attend UNITE in November – Make plans now to attend the UNITE Conference November 8-11, 2009 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Minneapolis, Minn. The Minneapolis metro area's 18.3 million annual visitors makes it one of Forbes' 30 most-visited cities in the U.S. Minneapolis is centrally located making it an ideal site for the UNITE conference. It is also conveniently located to the Unisys BIS and OS 2200 development groups.
Visit the UNITE website at www.unite.org to keep in touch about the upcoming 2009 conference and additional UNITE offerings. Check out the incentive programs for conference registration savings. Make your online hotel reservations at the Hyatt Regency Hotel. Register online for the conference. Keep in touch with other UNITE members - Have a question? Answer a question? Visit the UNITE .
2009 April
Make Plans Now for the Next UNITE Conference – November 8-11, 2009 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Minneapolis, Minn. Why attend? Read what some of your colleagues said about attending the UNITE Conferences:
"UNITE is more than just a conference, it is a community of individuals associated with Unisys. Attending a conference for the first time is like opening the door, subsequent conferences provide a way to meet with friends to address issues as a community; all learning and helping each other.
"Go, and go with all your questions. These folks are the ones who can answer them, or find someone who will."
"Very focused event. Many parallel streams. Attendees very communicative and friendly.
"The only one-stop shopping venue for Unisys information and access to Unisys Engineers.
Visit the UNITE website to keep in touch about the upcoming 2009 Conference and additional UNITE offerings.
2009 March
UNITE Announces New Office Address and Phone Numbers – UNITE has announced a new office address and new phone and fax numbers, effective immediately. The new address for UNITE, Inc., is 18530 Mack Avenue, # 532, Grosse Pointe Farms, MI 48236. The phone numbers are 313-640-9666 and 313-640-9667. The fax number is 313-640-9601.
Additionally, UNITE and the Unisys eCommunity have teamed up to make available some of the award-winning presentations from the 2008 UNITE conference. With these UNITE eCommunity webinar presentations attendees can experience a sample of the kind of in-depth sessions that are available at every UNITE conference. Best of Conference Webinars will be available in summer 2009. Check for the schedule of webinars on the UNITE site or watch for an email announcing when they will be available.
2009 February
Call for Papers Begins for UNITE 2009 – The Call for Papers has begun for UNITE's 2009 Annual Technology Conference. The event is scheduled for November 8-11, at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Minneapolis, Minn.
Once you enter an abstract it will be automatically submitted for consideration. After it is submitted, any abstract selected by UNITE becomes a commitment to deliver the presentation, even if it is presented by another employee in your organization. Submissions are due by June 1.
2009 January
Mark Your Calendar for UNITE 2009 – UNITE's 2009 Annual Technology Conference is scheduled for November 8-11, at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Minneapolis, Minn.
The Call for Papers has begun. Once you enter an abstract it will be automatically submitted for consideration. After it is submitted, any abstract selected by UNITE becomes a commitment to deliver the presentation, even if it is presented by another employee in your organization. Submissions are due by June 1.
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