President's Message: Excitement is Building for OHUG's Annual Conference
Dear OHUG members,
We have had three holidays so far in 2013, and I hope you have had time to regroup after a busy year end in the Oracle HCM community! OHUG is taking every opportunity to enhance, engage new members and build excitement for a great Global Conference, and we hope you are, too! If you register by the early-bird deadline of March 31, you will receive incredible savings on the conference. After March 31, the price goes up $200.
This year’s conference, which will be held June 10-14, is coming together nicely. Our outstanding group of speakers will soon be announced, and there is a new video of keynote speaker Robyn Benincasa on the OHUG website. With this year’s theme, “Blazing New Trails,” OHUG hopes to enlighten and educate attendees. We’re looking forward to giving attendees the opportunity to network with their peers and come away with real concepts to apply in their organizations.
In addition to the conference, OHUG has many other valuable member benefits. OHUG hosted the first “Preparing Presenters” webinar on Feb. 22. Parts two and three, held March 22 and May 10, respectively, are open now for registration. This webinar will focus on presentation skills and special presentation challenges. If you missed the first webinar, no problem! You can still take advantage of the remaining two. View all upcoming webinars.
Another valuable offer to our membership is OHUG’s special interest groups (SIGs). SIGs are an ever-growing segment of the community. They give like-minded people a place to go for support and information sharing. We recently added a Taleo-PeopleSoft Integration SIG and an OHUG Time and Attendance SIG, and we’re hoping to continue providing members with relevant tools and information. Discover all of OHUG’s SIGs.
As always, thank you for your dedication and participation in in this great association. 2013 is our year, and we are "Blazing New Trails"! See you in Dallas in June for your annual event.
Carolyn Hayden-Garner, MBA, CPP
OHUG President
OHUG Global Conference 2013: Register by March 31 for Early-Bird Discount
Dallas is the place to be this summer for the OHUG Global Conference 2013. From June 10-14, you and your OHUG friends and colleagues are invited to the annual weeklong networking and learning event. Anyone working with PeopleSoft, E-Business, Fusion HCM and Taleo products cannot afford to miss out on this opportunity.
While the annual conference offers attendees countless opportunities to reconnect with old friends — or make new ones — the main goal of the meeting is to support OHUG members with a learning experience that is second to none.
Online Resources
Registration – Registration is open. Register today and take advantage of the early-bird discount!
Agenda – Review the schedule of events and specific sessions to help plan your trip.
Location – Dallas and Sheraton Dallas
Keynote Speaker Robyn Benincasa to Discuss Winning
The extreme athlete and businesswoman will speak at the OHUG Global Conference 2013
Robyn Benincasa has made an art form of extreme performance by competing and winning at the highest levels of sport and business. In her 15 years as an adventure racer, she has biked through jungles in Borneo, climbed mountains in Nepal, trekked across lava fields in Fiji, rafted rapids in Chile — and racked up multiple world championship titles along the way.
In her book, “How Winning Works,” Benincasa shares the same training tools and exercises that have become wildly popular in her seminars, showing you how to climb to new levels of professional and personal success. Her eight-step method has been thoroughly battle-tested — from the harsh environment of endurance racing to the high-stakes environs of the business world.
Register for the OHUG Global Conference 2013 now.
Watch a video of Robyn Benincasa on the OHUG website.
Sponsorship Opportunities at OHUG Global Conference
As a sponsor of the OHUG Global Conference 2013, your company will be provided with a variety of opportunities to network with attendees and market your products and services to a wide range of industry professionals. Some of the valuable benefits provided to exhibitors at the OHUG Global Conference 2013 include:
- Targeted customer contacts
- Customizable sponsorship and marketing opportunities
- Increased presence within the OHUG Users community
- Establishment of new leads
- Firsthand knowledge of OHUG’s product plans and strategic direction
By sponsoring the OHUG Global Conference 2013, you can maximize your experience and integrate your brand into the event with a variety of exhibitor and sponsorship opportunities.
View all sponsorship packages in the Exhibitor Prospectus and/or contact Marc Ramos.
OHUG Member Appreciation Night Out Location: Eddie Deen's Ranch
A highlight of the OHUG Global Conference each year is the Member Appreciation Night Out. At this year’s conference, the event will be Wednesday, June 12, at Eddie Dean’s Ranch. Festivities include music, drinks, appetizers, dinner, a mechanical bull, an armadillo racing station, line dancing and more. Don’t miss out on the fun!
OHUG to Host Oracle Webcasts for PeopleSoft HCM 9.2
OHUG and Oracle are partnering to offer the following webcasts starting in April:
- HCM Overview and Roadmap — April 4
- PeopleTools Overview — April 9
- Extending the Value of PeopleSoft HCM with Oracle Solutions (Co-Exist) — April 16
- Decision Support Capabilities in PeopleSoft HCM Self Service (Pivot Grids) — April 18
- Time and Labor in 9.2 — April 23
- Absence Management in 9.2 — April 25
- Enterprise Learning Management in 9.2 — April 30
- ePerformance in 9.2 — May 2
- Payroll & Benefits in 9.2 — May 7
- Recruiting Solutions in 9.2 — May 9
Check the OHUG website soon for details and registration information.
Oracle Customer Advisory Panel: Your Voice is Needed
Oracle conducts focus groups, surveys and polls across its customer base as part of the Oracle Customer Advisory Panel program, which provides feedback to Oracle executives, Oracle product development teams and various lines of business.
As a member of the Oracle Customer Advisory Panel program, you will be invited to participate in very short, highly targeted web-based surveys no more than once a month. Each invitation will describe the study topic, and you can decide to participate as frequently as you want. In return, Oracle will provide valid customers with invitation-only access to Oracle's Customer Connect community, the premier place to network with other customers and view results from recent customer panels.
To become a member of the Oracle Customer Advisory Panel and participate in future research activities, visit the Oracle Customer Advisory Panel, select your preferred language and register.
OHUG Welcomes New Time and Attendance SIG
The OHUG Time and Attendance Special Interest Group (SIG) was established to provide members a forum to share knowledge, ideas and accelerate the business value of Oracle's time and attendance solutions. These solutions include Time and Labor, Absence Management and other time and attendance third-party solutions that integrate with the PeopleSoft product. Through the OHUG Time and Attendance SIG, we will provide coordinated feedback to the product development and support teams at Oracle.
What do we do?
- Administer forums for our members to network and share information and ideas
- Facilitate OHUG sessions
- Facilitate webinars for topics related to time and attendance
- Advocate to promote a sense of community and provide value to our members
Attend the Time and Attendance SIG Kickoff
Date: March 8
Time: 1 p.m. ET
What: Webinar to announce the SIG and to introduce our leaders to the community
Who: Time and Attendance SIG leaders Janet Martin and Bill Hansen
Register now!
Have questions? Visit the webinar webpage on the OHUG website or contact the SIG via email.
Have You Contacted Your SIG Today?
OHUG SIG leaders are looking for ideas from members about what they would like the SIG to accomplish during the June SIG Monday meeting at the OHUG Global Conference. The meeting day is in the planning stages right now and we will be finalizing the SIG Monday agendas soon.
Read more about OHUG SIGS.
Who is the OHUG Global Community?
Who can best answer that? You! OHUG's Global Community is open to all members who are part of companies with a global footprint, with a primary goal of networking across our group. Please visit our global community to introduce yourself, post questions to other members, or just see what others are talking about. Look for our upcoming webinar to discuss issues important to our global community. Your input is the answer!
Do You Love OHUG? 'Like' Us on Facebook!
Stay updated with OHUG by ‘liking’ our Facebook page! We’ll share exclusive content from within our organization, as well as Oracle updates, upcoming events, webinars and more.
Get updates on:
- The OHUG Global 2013 Conference in Dallas
- iParticipate webinars and regional events
- Compelling OHUG, Oracle, PeopleSoft and Taleo related content
- Opportunities to network with OHUG and our dynamic members
Already ‘like’ us?
If so, share your favorite things about OHUG! We want to hear all about your experience with OHUG on our Facebook page. Ask questions on our Facebook forum, initiate discussions or share photos from previous Oracle HCM Users Group events.
Our Facebook page is specifically geared toward our members, so use it as a resource to meet new networking connections, start conversations or to share your expertise with other OHUG members.
Update Your OHUG Profile Today
Update your OHUG profile, select your preferences, join a special interest group, customize your OHUG calendar, and update your network of OHUG connections by logging onto the OHUG website and choosing “Update your Profile Today” under “Welcome OHUG Member.”
Upcoming Webinar: XML and XML/BI Publisher 101
Date: March 13
Time: 1 p.m. CT
Learn the basics of XML and XML/BI Publisher. Targeted toward those just starting to get acquainted XML/BI publisher, this presentation will provide an overview of XML, how PeopleSoft uses XML, and how to utilize PeopleSoft XML/BI Publisher.
Register here.
Upcoming Webinar: Preparing Presenters II: Presentation Skills
Date: March 22
Time: 2 p.m. ET
Speaker: Kent Sipes, CedarCrestone
This session will help you deliver your presentation with more confidence, clarity and connection. These basic presentation skills will help you master nervousness, focus your delivery and impact your audience. Participants will learn how to cope with, and even benefit from, these crises.
This is the second webinar given especially for presenters. The first webinar, held Feb. 22, was designed to help prepare presentations.
Kent Sipes, MA, teaches and writes about communications and training issues. As a consultant for CedarCrestone, he teaches Train-the-Trainer courses, as well as a variety of PeopleSoft applications, reporting applications (XML Publisher, nVision) and training tools (such as UPK Developer). He has presented several OHUG webinars and presented a session at OHUG 2012.
Register here.
OHUG Board Blog: Kelli Kidd Elected as VP of Member Services
Kelli Kidd, an OHUG director serving as the program chair for two years, has been elected to serve as an officer of the executive board in the role of vice president of member services. In this role, Kelli will work with the program, education and SIG chairs to develop and oversee the strategies of each committee and will collaborate with the other OHUG officers of the executive board in setting the overarching direction of the organization.
Read more on the OHUG Board Blog.
OAUGNJ to Hold Spring Meeting in March
The Oracle Applications Users Group of New Jersey (OAUGNJ) is holding a joint meeting with OHUG and the Northeast PeopleSoft and NY/NJ JD Edwards User Group on Friday, March 15, at the Clarion Empire Meadowlands Hotel in Secaucus, N.J. The day will offer educational presentations, ask-the-experts sessions and networking opportunities, as well as solution and service provider exhibits. Topics covered under the OAUGNJ program and combined agenda will include EBS, EPM/BI, Fusion, cloud computing, Oracle support and documentation, and mobile applications. For complete details and to register:
Oracle Press Release: New Study Details Ways Human Resources Executives Can Take a Bigger Role in Driving Growth
A recent study conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) and co-sponsored by Oracle and IBM highlights the role of HR leaders in helping organizations drive growth, and HR’s relationship with C-level executives.
Read the full Oracle press release here.
OHUG Member of the Month Interview: Timothy Fox, Manager, Penske Corportation
When you're driving down the road and you see a yellow box truck, the odds are very good it is a Penske Truck Rental vehicle. Tim Fox probably isn't at the wheel, but he is at the helm of the inter/intranet and Oracle E-Business Suite applications at Penske Corporation — and has been, at some level, for more than 10 years since his promotion to management level within the organization in 2002.
Fox got his first job working with hospital computer systems by answering an ad in the newspaper. He got started by learning how to program through listening to audio tapes and following along. His first boss was challenging, but, from the experience, he said he learned to speak up and ask questions if he didn't know the answers to something — a skill that has served him well throughout the years. When asked what advice he would pass on from his own career lessons, he told OHUG: "You have to understand and know where you want to go with your career, and don't be afraid to ask for what you want. If you know what you want, don't be afraid to ask for it."
By his own account, Fox has benefited from being an OHUG member. "It has provided me with the necessary insights to more easily role out our Oracle modules," he said. "It has provided me with tips and techniques that can make your life easier. From a career perspective, it gives me exposure to other people in my field and provides networking opportunities."
Regarding why he attends OHUG global conferences, Fox said: "[The OHUG Global Conference] very narrowly focus on things you need to know about and provides specific answers to specific questions and specific solutions to specific problems. [The networking opportunities there] give you access to contacts for [obtaining] answers to problems both now and in the future." As a result of OHUG, Fox said he has formed partnerships and friendships with people who have similar interests and modules, allowing him to collaborate with them to solve systems issues within his own organization.
Fox is a "real" person. His latest two reads, "Systems Thinking: Managing Chaos and Complexity" and "Gregory the 7th: A History of the Popes" reflect on the fact that Fox is interested in and keeps track of current events but is also committed to continuing to better himself in the context of his role at Penske Corporation and his continued career in systems management. Balancing his home and work life, Fox is not just a manager; he also enjoys his life away from work, too. Having recently finished the basement in his home, Fox is looking forward to put the finishing touches on it, including a shuffleboard table and a pinball machine. He likes to step out, too — to travel and explore small towns and unique places. The last cool small town he explored was Winnemucca, Nev., he said.
We'll have to pull up a map and look up where Winnemucca is, but, in the meantime, OHUG would like to thank Fox for allowing us to get a glimpse into the real life of an OHUG member and for sharing with other members the benefits that keep him, and members like him, active in the association.