It's been a busy month (couple of years, really), but the last few weeks in particular have involved a couple minor announcements that I'm quite appreciative for.

On the 14th, IBM announced the 2017 class of IBM Champions for ICS, and they included me on the list. It's been a joy to be considered a Champion for the last few years, and 2017 promises to be an interesting year to continue that in our slice of the development world.

Mere days later, IBM sent out notifications about Connect 2017 sessions, and one of the abstracts I'm a co-presenter for was approved. I'll be presending DEV-1430: IBM Connections Integration: Exploring the Long List of Options with Philippe Riand.

And finally, I've taken up the daunting task of taking Peter Tanner's mantle as IP Manager at OpenNTF. Peter's work has been outstanding over the years (I've always appreciated the prodding to get my licensing ducks in a row), and I hope to be up to the task of replacing him when he retires at the end of the year.