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Vit Gottwald
Project Manager
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CA Technologies, Inc.
E-mail: vit.gottwald@ca.com
Why zNextGen? I joined z/NextGen to get connected with peers from other companies who have committed their career to the mainframe. Being new in this industry means a lot of challenges. And SHARE seems to me to be the best answer to many of them. You meet the people who walk the walk and get answers without marketing noise. At the same time you have the opportunity to get connected and network with other mainframe "youngsters" all across the industry. That gives you a view from outside the box of your own site and company.
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 Linda Mooney
Project Manager
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County of Sacramento
Senior IT Analyst
Email: Linda.zNG@comcast.net
Why zNextGen? It was irresistible! I am intensely curious and always after new things to learn. It was just natural that when the z/OS installers at my shop retired and left for new opportunities that I would leap at the opportunity to ‘step up'. Of course that means I have a lot to learn. What could be more perfect? With zNextGen I have the opportunity to learn from the best. I also have the honor of helping some of the new folks.
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Deric Abel
Deputy PM
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America First Credit Union
z/Linux Administrator
E-mail: dabel@americafirst.com
Why zNextGen? I have been in IT for over 12 years but I have just began my career in the mainframe world. Because of this, I felt I needed to find a group of similar people (of age and experience) that I could associate and network with. I discovered zNextGen in May of ’09, immediately joined then attended my first SHARE conference that following August. I am excited to be part of a group that is in a very real sense, the future of SHARE and the Mainframe!
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 Kevin Wick
Deputy PM
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CA Technologies, Inc.
Software Engineer
E-mail: Kevin.Wick@ca.com
Why zNextGen? I think the main reason I wanted to start working with the zNextGen project was to give back to the Mainframe community that had given so much to me. Unlike many of my colleagues, I had a solid foundation in enterprise computing during my college years, and right out of school, my education continued with an intense Mainframe-specific mentor program and training classes. Many people are thrown into the Mainframe world without this type of specific education and I really want to do my part to educate and inspire the next generation of Mainframe professionals.
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 Skip Robinson
SHARE MVS Program Co-manager |
So. Cal. Edison
Systems Programmer
E-mail: robinsjo@sce.com
Why zNextGen? Speaking as a confirmed over-the-hiller, zNG is important because no matter how well you treat your kids, you can’t really trust them to put you in a rest home that offers affordable high speed wireless internet. Which means that some day the good and trusting folks back at the ranch will have to get along without me. I would feel so much better rocking away on the common area porch knowing that my role in stroking and feeding the mainframe has been passed on to caring and capable hands. That culture is what zNextGen is all about.
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Chris Westbrook
Volunteer
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Defense Information Systems Agency
Systems Engineer
E-mail: WestbroC@den.disa.mil
Why zNextGen? I have been on the lookout for a professional organization capable of helping me assimilate into the mainframe community for some time. zNextGen has been a great way for me to network with mainframe professionals both outside of my organization and within a very large and otherwise unavailable knowledgebase. I look forward to the relationships, opportunities, and knowledge to be gained as a result of zNextGen.
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Justin Bastin
Project Manager
(2011-2012)
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EMC Corporation
Performance Engineer
E-mail: Justin.Bastin@emc.com
Why zNextGen? Being new to the “Mainframe” world, zNextGen provides an excellent opportunity to develop my technical skills as well as the interpersonal skills that are needed to excel within this environment. The zNextGen organization is the future of our business and having the opportunity to collaboratively mold its future is rewarding. Networking amongst the zNextGen community represents a revolving door of learning that never ends and does not exist anywhere else. My zNextGen experiences thus far have been the breath of fresh air that allows me to know that “I am not alone!”
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Kristine Harper
Project Manager
(2005-2010)
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Rocket Software
E-mail: kharper120@gmail.com
Why zNextGen? It was too easy for me to say yes to this exceptional opportunity. We have nothing to lose, and it is exciting to play a role in a group that I consider critical to the future of the mainframe. As a zealous newbie myself, I think there are so few resources out there for up-and-coming mainframers, and that’s what zNextGen is all about – providing those resources, the information, the connections and the friendships that will help us navigate our careers and get comfortable in whatever mainframe role we are pursuing. Why zNextGen? Why not!!
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Reg Harbeck
Deputy PM
(Current)/
Project Officer
(2012 - 2013)/
Deputy PM
(2007-2011)
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E-mail: reg@harbeck.ca
Blog: http://mainframeanalytics.blogspot.com/
WhyzNextGen? When I first became a mainframer in 1987, I noticed that I was over half a generation younger than my average fellow mainframer. As I've moved through my career, I've watched and listened as this generation has moved towards retirement and wrote an article (see Mainframe Management Skills: Securing the Future of the Enterprise at zJournal.com) and gave a SHARE presentation on the topic in Anheim. Then, when I saw that zNextGen was created as part of the effort to create a new generation of mainframers, I realized it was a perfect match for my interests in this important issue - so I had to join!
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