RACF User Groups
RACF User Groups (RUGs) are grass-roots gatherings of individuals who are RACF practitioners that live and work in the same geographical area. Most RUGs gather 2-3 times per year and are focused on providing training on RACF specific topics. Meetings are most often lead by an elected president and hosted at a RUG member’s organization. A list of currently active RUGs is listed. If you would like to get involved in your community RUG, please reach out to the contacts listed. If you are interested in starting a RUG in your area, please email us at conference@go2vanguard.com and we will be happy to assist.
Active RACF User Groups
RUGONE (RUG Of the North East)
Location: Hartford, CT
Contacts: David Bell, The Hartford dbell@thehartford.com; George Kash, New York State, Higher Education Services kbornhorst@metlife.com; Bob Hansel, RSH Consulting, Inc. r.hansel@rshconsulting.com
Next Meeting: TBD - probably end of January
Overview: RUGONE was created in 1987 to serve the professional education needs of the RACF community in the Northeastern U.S. We hold full-day meetings 2 to 3 times per year. RUGONE usually meets in Sturbridge, MA.
RUGONE has corporate memberships. The membership fee is $50/year. Attendees from member organizations are admitted to meetings either free of charge or at a reduced fee.
Kentucky/Ohio/Indiana RACF Users Group (KOIRUG)
Location: Cincinnati, OH
Contacts: Barbara Rhoads, Cincinnati Financial barb_rhoads@cinfin.com; Bob Hansel, RSH Consulting, Inc. r.hansel@rshconsulting.com
Next Meeting: TBD - probably end of January
Meeting Location: Cincinnati Financial Corporation
Overview: KOIRUG was created in 2003 to serve the professional education needs of the RACF community in Kentucky, Ohio, and Indiana. Our plan is to hold full-day meetings twice a year. KOIRUG will usually meet in the Cincinnati area.
Chicago Land RACF Users Group (CHIRUG)
Location: Greater Chicago area
Contacts: Pat Diya, CISA, CISM CISSP patricia.diya@acxiom.com
Next Meeting: TBD - usually set one month in advance
Overview: CHIRUG serves the Illinois, Iowa and Southern Wisconsin RACF Community. Meetings are held approximately 2 - 3 times per year.
We generally will meet at Acxiom Corporation in Downers Grove, Illinois; however, we have met at other locations in the Chicagoland area on occasion. We often have a teleconference bridge available for those members who cannot join in person and occasionally we have WEBEX capability.
Speakers: We generally look for speakers with expertise in security and audit topics relative to mainframe environments. Whether it's RACF, network, UNIX system services, PCI compliance, etc., we strive for driving the presentation and discussion with a mainframe environment focus. There are a number of other security/audit user groups that offer opportunities to learn about other platforms so, as much as possible; we try to keep our topics relative to mainframes.
New York RACF Users Group (NYRUG)
Location: New York City area
Contact: Stu Henderson stu@stuhenderson.com
Next Meeting: TBD
Location: DTCC
Overview: The NYRUG meets twice a year, in April and October, usually on a Tuesday afternoon.
Carolinas RACF Users (CRUG)
Location: Charlotte, NC
Contacts: Sherry Courtney, Wachovia bobandsherrycourtney@yahoo.com; Bob Hansel, RSH Consulting, Inc. r.hansel@rshconsulting.com; Erin French, First Citizens erin.french@firstcitizens.com
Next Meeting: TBD
Overview: An effort is currently underway to resurrect the former North Carolina RUG as the new Carolinas RUG. We plan to hold 2 full-day meetings per year.
Southern California RACF Users Group (SCRUG)
Location: Orange County
Contact: SoCalRug@gmail.com
Next Meeting: February 18th, 2010 - 9am to 3.30pm - 600 Anton Blvd., Costa Mesa
Overview: Reviving a now dormant RUG. SCRUG was created to serve the professional educational needs of the RACF community in Southern California. Our plan is to hold full-day meetings 3 or 4 times each year. SCRUG will usually meet in the LA – Orange County area.
Greater St Louis RACF Users Group
Location: St. Louis area
Contacts: June Dabbs jad2222@bjc.org
Next Meeting: TBD
Overview: Usually co-hosted with Local ISSA Chapter on the 3rd Tuesday of each month
Tampa Florida RACF Users Group
Location: Tampa FL.
Contacts: Hayim Sokolsky pending
Next Meeting: TBD
Overview: Limited Activity Currently
