There are three key conferences coming up in early 2008 that you'll want on your radar if not on your travel and education budgets: RPG & DB2 Summit, COMMON and its connected IT Executive Conference, and RPG World 2008. All three provide stellar education from the top System i pros in the business. Here's a quick rundown:

RPG & DB2 Summit

March 11-13, 2008 -- Orlando

The RPG & DB2 Summit is organized by System i Developer, which is a consortium of four top educators on System i development technologies -- Paul Tuohy, Jon Paris, Skip Marchesani, and Susan Gantner -- who also provide the foundation for the educational sessions. The gathering will have four concurrent educational tracks, three with an RPG focus and one purely devoted to DB2 and SQL topics. Key topics include V6R1, RPG IV, ILE, SQL, DB2, WDSc, and RPG and the Web. In addition to the core conference, two in-depth, half-day HeadStart Workshops will be offered the afternoon of Monday, March 10.

IBM's George Farr, worldwide product line manager for WDS, WDSc, and the RPG compilers, will deliver the keynote address, in which he is expected to reveal the details of V6R1-related enhancements to RPG, other System i development technologies, and the corresponding development tooling, as well as elicit feedback on IBM's direction from Summit attendees, conference planners report. IBM's lead developer for the RPG compiler, Barbara Morris, will also be available at the keynote address to provide technical details, and she will lead several technical elective sessions.

Special guest instructors in addition to Farr and Morris include Scott Klement and IBM's Tom McKinley. The early registration rate is $995 on or before January 25, 2008.

COMMON 2008 Annual Meeting and Exposition

March 30 - April 3, 2008 -- Nashville

COMMON's conference is the largest and most inclusive System i-focused event in the country, and it'll boast the most speakers, including IBMers, consultants, peers, and ISVs. COMMON hasn't identified its keynote speaker yet, but its five days of focused education will have a variety of tracks designed for System i pros. For those looking for solutions, the Expo will feature more than 80 industry exhibitors. Early-bird registration for individuals is $1,495 or $1,295 per person for groups of seven or more from the same company.

COMMON's 2008 IT Executive Conference runs March 30 - April 1, and it's geared for high-level IT decision makers. Registration isn't open yet, but the early-bird rate is $1,895.

RPG World 2008

May 5 - 7, 2008 -- Las Vegas

RPG World boasts 12 sessions per day with three educational tracks, and it's anchored by System i and RPG expert Bob Cozzi. For the purposes of full disclosure, Cozzi contracts with System iNetwork to deliver iMonthly and Tuesday Tips. Running concurrently with the conference is the Professional Developers Conference, which starts a day early on May 4. Overall session topics will include SubProcedures, Subfiles, XML, RPG for Windows, i5/OS Version 6 Enhancements, CL and ILE CL, Embedded SQL, Web Development with RPG IV, Sending E-mail from RPG IV, and a professional development seminar with Bob Tipton. Registration is $995.