Looking back; 2017 was a fantastic and landmark year for BITUG, we hosted the first European NonStop SIG in the UK since 2007 (Brighton). At this European SIG event held at the Doubletree Tower Bridge; we were fortunate enough to have the one and only Jimmy Trebig present the SIG keynote. This and the fantastic social event at the Shard (kindly sponsored by CSP) made our European SIG a resounding success and standout event for 2017 according to the membership.

We received so much great feedback from our users and vendors that we are already scheduled to host the 2019 European SIG. Hopefully the European SIG will now alternate between GTUG and BITUG hosting, we already have a very special location in mind for the 2019 BIG SIG event but I won’t spoil that surprise just yet.

Later in 2017 we held the Little SIG event. This event was kindly hosted for us by Barclays Bank in Canary Wharf London. As well as the usual HPE Roadmap and vendor presentations one that surprised me with the amount of feedback and discussion it generated was my own: Altcoins #101 a look at Crypto currency beyond Bitcoin, presentation that gained coverage in the NonStop Insider publication.

To anyone currently invested in crypto currencies.. “just HODL” (**does not constitute investment advice J )

Many thanks to Committee member Rob and the other staff at Barclays that worked so hard to make this event a success for BITUG and our membership.

Details of all our past events and copies of past presentations can be found on the BITUG presentation archives (page 1, page 2).

Looking forward; 2018 will be another busy year for the BITUG committee, the BIG SIG event will be held on Wednesday May 9th at our regular venue of Trinity House, near Tower Bridge. We are always on the lookout for interesting and informative “user” presentations / stories for these events so if you would like to practice your presentation skills in front of the ever friendly BITUG crowd then please let me or any other member of the committee know.

The 2018 European SIG will be held by GTUG in Leipsizg during May. The 2018 BITUG Big SIG date has been set for 9th May 2018 this “free” event is essential for all NonStop users unable to get a first-hand view of the upcoming HPE roadmap where questions can be asked directly of HPE staff. We will again hold a social event for BIG SIG and as ever a training day will accompany the BIG SIG event.

Best regards, and a belated Happy New Year to all our members. I hope to see catch up with as many of you as possible during the course of 2018 and don’t forget to contact us for exciting presentation opportunities at our events. Also if any of you want to volunteer(sorry no pay) to work for the BITUG committee, then again please let us know..

Damian Ward (BITUG Chairman 2018)

British isles tandem user group