I’ve been volunteering in the Oracle community for almost 15 years. That’s a lot. It has given me so many satisfactions both professionally and personally over the years that I’m a huge promoter of how organizations and users need to adhere and participate in user groups.
I first started working in the LatinOAUG, helping Ariel Cruzado and many more members connecting Oracle Application’s customers both as a user of Oracle Apps as well as a partner given the voice of the customers we serve.
Then, we met with a group of technology enthusiasts (Marcelo Ochoa, Fernando Garcia, Gerardo Tezza, Carisa Maman y Marcelo Burgos), and we founded the ArOUG.
Both user groups (LatinOAUG & ArOUG) have delivered many in-person and virtual events over the years, with countless participation of members of multiple companies and Oracle employees.
We joined as members of the Latin America Oracle Community and joined the board of directors volunteering the activities there and in 2016 became the second president of this organization.
What is LAOUC?
The purpose of LAOUC is to provide the premier forum for all users and vendors of Oracle products and services in Latin America, including Central America, the Caribbean, and South America. It is a non-profit organization created in 2009 and run by volunteers across 16 countries.
The main objectives are:
- Exchange information and ideas concerning the implementation and use of Oracle products and services;
- Support the practical usage of Oracle products and services;
- Sponsor educational conferences for the exchange of information, experience, and concepts related to the use of Oracle products and services;
- Represent current user group member base on LAD support issues;
- Collaborate with other user communities around the world, identifying and influencing future Oracle product direction.
The organization works as the umbrella to more than 15 users groups that have more than 5,000 members and has been a pioneer organizing Oracle Tours across multiple locations since 2010. The last Oracle Groundbreakers Tour LATAM 2019, consisted of 12 countries with more than 2,000 in-person attendees.
2020 and the new normal
As the LAOUC President for the 2016-2017 & 2018-2019 periods, I led the journey of a transformation. A change in how technology is driving many industries as well as how Oracle Corporation is shifting its products towards the cloud. Starting in 2020, I delegated the presidency of LAOUC to an outstanding professional, and a good friend, Rolando Carrasco, who is the Chief Technology Officer at S&P Solutions based out of Mexico City, who is taking the community to the next level.
The “new normal” implied organizing the new Oracle Groundbreakers Tour LAD 2020 100% virtual, which has allowed LAOUC to expand the speakers to an unprecedented number.
Oracle Groundbreakers Tour LAD 2020
The 2020 Oracle Groundbreakers Latin America will be online from August 17-28. There will be 66 speakers—Oracle ACEs, Groundbreaker Ambassadors, prominent Oracle developers, and executives—engaging thousands of developers. Tracks include Database, Java, Cloud Native, Chatbots/Mobile/ Modern Development (as well as HOLs), and APEX. The tracks will be in Spanish, English, and Portuguese. Technical subjects include Oracle Autonomous Database, cloud, machine learning, artificial intelligence, operating systems, data science, microservices, containers, Kubernetes, Oracle Fn Project, and Java.
Registering for a technical session or a hands-on lab is very simple. Go to the Latin America Oracle User Group website, and you can see the complete schedule.
By clicking in the Session Details button, you will access to the details of the session.
If you click in the “Register Session,” you’ll be getting into the Zoom Webcast registration page.
You can follow the tour on Twitter at @laouc, @oracleace, @groundbreakers and the #GrounbreakersTour.
I hope to “virtually see” you there!