For those who joined us in Orlando this past February, you already know it was something special. If you missed it, catch up on the highlights featured on SHARE’d Intelligence.
From the opening moments on Sunday evening, it was clear this was going to be a great week. The New-to-Z reception and Women in IT session were outstanding. There is something genuinely wonderful about watching early career professionals connect with longtime mainframers, and the New-to-Z receptions deliver that every single time. At WIT, the amazing women in the panel discussion session shared a wealth of experience and advice that lifted each other and all who attended the session. If you've never attended one of those events, put Pittsburgh, happening Aug. 16-20, at the top of your list.
The awards ceremony was personally one of the highlights of my week — recognizing the volunteers and professionals who pour so much of themselves into this community never gets old. Congratulations again to our recipients: Janet Sun, recipient of the Laetitia Harrer Snow Memorial Award for Humanitarian Service to SHARE, and Edward Jaffe, recipient of the John R. Ehrman Award for Sustained Excellence in Technical Education. I hope those of you in attendance had a chance to attend the panel discussions with the Board of Directors around SHARE initiatives, and with industry visionaries around modernization. These are the kinds of conversations SHARE will continue having with members, and we know from comments and surveys that many found them valuable. I left SHARE feeling motivated and with plenty of ideas to bring back to my team.
Now, we're already looking ahead, and I must say, I'm really excited about what's coming for SHARE in Pittsburgh. I don't know about you, but I can't wait to get back to a SHARE event to interact with our robust community. Pittsburgh is the heart of mainframe country, and that means our audience is always sharp, engaged, and ready to dig in. We're expecting great content, a fantastic venue, and Pittsburgh is just a great city to spend a week in. There's no shortage of things to do when the sessions wrap up each day. The call for proposals remains open until April 14, so get your sessions submitted. Registration will be opening soon, so keep an eye out for our emails or check in at share.org/events.
We're also introducing something new this year called Blueprint — a focused, two-day event built around going deep on a single topic that matters most to our industry. For our first Blueprint event, we landed on Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC) and Its Impact on Mainframe Security, and it's hard to imagine a more timely choice. If you haven't been paying close attention to the PQC conversation, now is the time — quantum threats are no longer something we can put off for later. Blueprint will bring together z/OS professionals, security engineers, CISOs, and risk leaders for keynotes, expert panels, tabletop exercises, and case studies from teams already doing this work. It's happening Aug. 20-21 in Pittsburgh, right alongside the SHARE Pittsburgh summer conference. And with Pittsburgh sitting within easy driving distance of Columbus, Cleveland, Philadelphia, and much of the Midwest, I hope you'll make it a point to join us, even if you’re unable to attend the main conference. Space is limited, so follow this link to be notified when registration opens this spring.
Whether you're a SHARE conference regular or still finding your footing in the community, Pittsburgh is the place to be. We are already hard at work making it worth your while.
As always, none of this happens without our incredible volunteers, whose time and dedication make SHARE the leading voice for the mainframe ecosystem. Thank you, truly, to every one of you.
I look forward to seeing you in Pittsburgh!
Registration is open for SHARE Pittsburgh.