It’s Joel Kallman Day again. And we still miss him dearly.

A place Joel loved was Israel, and especially Jerusalem. When we visited Jerusalem during the ilOUG event in July 2013, Joel said to me that his life is now complete, he always wanted to see Jerusalem. We both were quite emotional during that trip. I did my trip on behalf of my grandfather, who was never able to visit Jerusalem in person but was following my trip from home.

Joel would be very sorry to see the situation in Israel, and Jerusalem, today. He believed in peace and harmony, and wanted everybody to be friends.

The Oracle community in Israel has been strong and active for many years. That community had a special place in Joel’s heart.

I hope the ilOUG and the whole Oracle Community in Israel are safe and will remain safe. I wish you a peace in the country, soon. Stay safe.

It obviously takes a Joel Kallman Day to get me writing a blog post! And it does make sense since Joel was a true community supporter. He always made me feel I am doing valuable work when sharing my knowledge. And that I should always try to contribute more to the community.

Next week is the Oracle CloudWorld in Las Vegas. The first time for a long time the community gets together, invited by Oracle. Joel would appreciate this. It still hurts to realize he will not be there.

I am excited to meet so many friends after all these years, and so looking forward making new friends. The community is extremely important and makes the techie life even better: computers are fun but even more fun when you can share the feeling with other people. Another important part of the event is hearing what’s coming next on the Oracle space and what people have done using the Oracle technology, the techie part itself.

Of course, I will do my part of sharing the knowledge too. I will be talking about one of my favorite topics: machine learning. Machine Learning in the Cloud – Without Any Panic. I want to talk about this topic because I have realized many people are curious and interested in machine learning but worried about the complexity of it. What if I cannot understand machine learning? What if it is too difficult for me? In my session I will explain the features Oracle has created in the Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) to make using machine learning as easy as possible. And it is easy. There is no reason to panic and worry, you will be fine with machine learning. And to remind: the community is there to help you, if any problems. You can always ask for advice or guidance if you think you do not know what to do next.

I will also attend an Oracle ACE Program Roundtable with Jennifer Nicholson (Director, ACE Program Management, Oracle) to discuss how an individual can contribute to the community. We will discuss about the Oracle ACE Program, Oracle’s premier community program that recognizes & rewards individuals for their contributions to the Oracle community. Oracle ACEs love sharing their knowledge and helping the Oracle community, and therefore the ACE Program is an important part of the community. There are many ways you can contribute: you can write blog posts or books, speak, mentor…Whatever feels comfortable to you. And guess what, you do not only feel good when helping others, you will also learn a lot! And you will make amazing friends!

I hope to see many of you at the CloudWorld, or any of the other amazing Oracle Community events during this year or the years to come. Being a techie is fun, but being a techie with a supporting community is so much more fun!