The GS UK Region Conference is an annual event which takes place in November for three days, generally in the Midlands or a virtual event in the first half of the year. These events are organised by the GS Conference Committee which is comprised of volunteers.

There are several keynote and plenary sessions and a large number of subject streams, each of which covers a specific area of interest. The majority of the streams are aligned to one of the regular working groups and the agenda for the stream is coordinated by the committee of that working group. In addition, there are several non-working group aligned streams and workshops organised by the central conference committee which also coordinates the overall conference agenda.

Where possible ideas and suggestions from participants attending the previous conference are used to form the agenda for the following year’s event. Topics may also be received from the various GS Working Groups or may be based on announcements from IBM and other vendors.

The conference provides over 200 hours of technical training from IBM, other vendors and most importantly from GS members themselves. At the in-person conference, plenty of time is set aside to allow for networking with speakers, vendors and delegates during breaks and the evening receptions and dinners.

Each year at the in-person conference there is a large conference exhibition with stands from many companies who build and sell solutions relevant to the membership. The income from this exhibition and associated sponsorship enables GS to offer five free places plus one or more trainee places per member company. It also allows GS to charge very reasonable rates to other delegates attending the conference.

GS works with educational establishments to encourage students to attend, as everyone is acutely aware of the increasing skills shortage in the z/os industry. Students are offered free places. The conference includes a whole stream dedicated to people new to the platform.