From December 1st to 3rd, 2024, I had the pleasure of attending the UK Oracle User Group Conference (UKOUG) in Birmingham. My workmate Stefan and I traveled from Zürich Airport on Saturday afternoon, flying to London Heathrow and continuing our journey by Metro and Train. We arrived later in the day, ready for an exciting few days.
UKOUG isn’t just about tech topics; it’s also a fantastic chance to meet people, make connections, and enjoy interesting presentations about Oracle technology. This year, I met some colleagues from Accenture, including Rhianna from the US and Sai from the UK. It’s always nice to meet people in person and share ideas.
Sunday evening was special as we attended the traditional Oracle ACE dinner at a well-known Indian restaurant. The food was amazing—full of flavor—and the event was packed, with over 50 Oracle ACEs taking part. It was great to meet so many people from the community in a relaxed setting.
On Monday evening, after the Networking apero, we spent time at a pub close to the conference venue. The local beer and food were excellent, and it was a nice way to wrap up the day while chatting with others about both work and everyday life. I also had the opportunity to present two sessions at the conference:
- Hardening Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Accounts: A talk about how to improve the security of OCI accounts.
- Migrations to Oracle Cloud with Zero Downtime Migration: A session focused on using the ZDM tool to make cloud migrations easier and smoother.
Both sessions had engaged audiences, and I really enjoyed the discussions that followed. Sharing knowledge and learning from others is always a highlight for me at events like these. The conference location was excellent. The hotel rooms were comfortable, the conference facilities were well set up, and the food, snacks, and coffee kept us going throughout the day.
As the last conference of the year, UKOUG 2024 was a perfect way to finish. Now it’s time to head back to Switzerland, return to everyday life, and spend time with family. X-mas is coming. A big thank you to the UKOUG team for organizing such a well-planned and enjoyable event. I had a great time and am looking forward to next year!
Martin