Like Lenley before him, Lyle has long supported Quest and the mission we serve as a users group.  Every indication points to the fact that Lyle’s overall strategy for the JD Edwards division will be consistent with what we’ve been seeing from Oracle already, and Quest is excited to have the chance to work with him even more closely

Change has affected Quest this year too.  One major change is the magazine this letter appears in.  In order to control our costs, reach a broader audience and deliver news to you in a timelier manner, we changed Q&A to a digital-only format, and this Fall issue represents the first digital-only edition. It’s one of the most visible ways Quest is working towards making our services better, but there are some other changes we’ve implemented over the past few months that are just as exciting.

At our June board meeting, your board of directors outlined some key strategies for the 2009-2010 term. Some of the most important ones include:

• Making our events the best possible. We know it’s harder than ever for you to justify going to an in-person event – your training and travel budgets are tight. In the coming year, you’re going to see a renewed focus from Quest on making these events deliver maximum ROI to you. We hope you’ll share your ideas with us too – what is the ideal conference length for you? What kinds of content do you need to see?
• Making your memberships as valuable as they can be. When we introduced our new program of online education this year, we made sure it included steeply discounted pricing for our paying members. If you’ve already paid your individual or corporate membership fee, you’re eligible to attend our online education courses (including an exclusive upgrades-focused week later in October) for extremely reasonable fees.
• Delivering content you need. The content Quest provides – no matter how you consume it – is the No. 1 reason you rely on us.  We’re committed over the next year to expand the content we’re providing you – I’ve already mentioned at our events and in our new online education sessions – but also online, in Q&A magazine, and wherever you interact with Quest. You’ll see themes across many of our key topics, you’ll get to experience more tailored options, and we hope that means you’ll continue to see Quest as a valuable part of your JD Edwards, PeopleSoft, or Oracle Utilities experience.

Many of the programs I’ve mentioned here have a lot of detail behind them. And that’s exactly what your board of directors and staff are working on right now – a budget and plans that unite all these goals into one cohesive plan for Quest over the next year. It’s not an easy process, but as these plans turn into outlets for your participation and learning over the next year, we hope you’ll see that some of these new programs (and the improvements to existing ones) are ways Quest is capturing one of the realities of our world today – change.

As always, I’m interested in hearing your ideas and feedback. Email us at quest@questdirect.org and let us know what we can do to improve your Quest experience.

Sincerely,

Sue Shaw
President
Quest International Users Group

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