Ed Coleman, chairman and CEO of Unisys since October 2008, will be a featured keynote speaker at UNITE 2009. With the theme, "Invigorate Your Data Center," the conference will be held at the Hyatt Regency Minneapolis Hotel November 8-11, 2009.
"This will be Ed Coleman's first opportunity to meet with UNITE delegates and we certainly expect a very large turnout for that," George McGowan, chairman of UNITE, tells 5 Minute Briefing. Coleman will be talking about the direction he is taking Unisys in and he will also participate in a question-and-answer period similar to the one done last year by Unisys' Rich Marcello. "That proved to be a very exciting opportunity for delegates to ask specific questions," McGowan notes, adding that Coleman is known as "straight shooter and a very down-to-earth guy."
Bob Supnik will be the second keynote speaker. Supnik, who is vice president and general manager, Product Development and Technology/Supply Chain Operations and S&T's CTO, joined Unisys in 2008. He will discuss the investment that Unisys has in ClearPath and modernization of that platform.
The conference will also feature hands-on labs again this year, says McGowan, "I believe there are going to be hands-on labs in almost every session throughout the conference starting Sunday afternoon and going through the close of the conference."
Conference sessions are divided among five tracks, including MCP, OS 2200, Windows Enterprise Servers, BIS, EAE/LINC, and a general track. Following the conference there will also be a two-day BIS Symposium, providing an opportunity for participants to gain in-depth information about the current release.
With the proximity to Unisys's Roseville site, the conference will also provide an opportunity for attendees to interact with Unisys' engineering staff. While Minneapolis is not known as resort town, UNITE conferences held there typically have the highest attendance, says McGowan. "You are not going there to get a suntan. You are going there to get knowledge and interact with other delegates. We are hoping that even with the economy, that people will look at the value that we have to offer in these four days and come up to Minneapolis with us."
The special rate for loyal UNITE members has been extended to October 9, 2009. For more information about the conference, go here.