About Us

2008 ish :   HCCUG = Houston Cloud & Cluster User Group — Cloud Computing was in its infancy and was building upon Clusters (that have been around forever) … was a closed group as members were under NDA … and Microsoft's Cloud was still in its codename/pre-release phase, "Red Dog",  that later became Azure.

2010 :  transitioned name (HCCUG=Houston Cloud Computing User Group) — open to all, at-no-charge. and welcomed David Cravey's C++ User Group.

2017 :  we revamped and blew up (from <300 in Jan to ~1K members in 1 year) and … began laying the foundation for the next wave

• 1. more meetings = more content/goodies/opportunities for our community,

  2. more content = while other user groups expand into the mainstream Cloud offerings (e.g., Azure), we continued to forge further ahead with new/upcoming Cloud & Cloud-related, e.g., BigData & IoT,  and now Applied AI/ML with TensorFlow,

  3. more open-source =  started highlighting we've been doing FOSS for a long time, and highlighting more non-Microsoft … so more options for our community.

  4. more outreach = expanded beyond Houston … e.g,  SQL Saturday Baton Rouge,   Oracle Code One,  Moscone,  San Fransico

2018 :  continued the gradual roll out of new & improved options … laying & expanding the foundation for the next wave

1. The explosive growth of HCCUG.org™  in 10 years coupled with the rising-demand for more services,  HybridCloudGroup.org™  organization was created, and  continues the core principles, such as,  MEMBER PRIVACY  (attendee list, food choices, etc.) and over the 10+ years, have NEVER given out our member/attendee list, even to sponsors.

2. clarification: Houston Cloud Computing User Group continues to function as it used to, but now under the HybridCloudGroup.org™ organization which continues to use the HCCUG.org™ Logo, URL, & alias to preserve the 10+ years of goodwill, and more (e.g., our PRO-PRIVACY reputation, and online-history  google juice)

3. we opened limited event-level co-sponsorship to select companies like  Snowflake Computing , Canonical/Ubuntu,  &  Zerto, and few others not mentioned here, and found some sponsors (not mentioned here) veering off … so, extremely selective of who can sponsor while being PRO-PRIVACY & BADGER-FREE.

4. C language focus (inherited from Tex) added by Zane Moreign  with David Cravey's blessing, now, Houston C & C++ User Group 

5. sponsored in-full & upfront the launch of Houston Google Cloud  User Group (a.k.a.  GDG Cloud Houston), more details here

6. all culminating with our 10th Anniversary & Christmas  Party  on  Dec-13, 2018.

7. New  event-registration program:

• 1. • RSVPs on Meetup.com DO NOT COUNT.    

     • Only those who register for the event  here, on HCCUG.org site, are eligible to be confirmed  and can provide their preferences, such as, food choices/dietary constraints!    

     • Only confirmed attendees will be able to attend, obviously :-)

     • We strive to ensure NO WASTAGE of —  (a) Food,  (b)  Effort,  and (c) Resources,  therfore, confirmed attendees are asked to notify us if no-show!

2019 :   launched & managed 3 official/recognized user groups, and added the C while continuing to serve the Houston Cloud Computing User Group,  while adding new services and more 

1. new Houston  TensorFlow  &  Applied AI/ML  user group  (TensorFlow.org approved)  …  Valentino Moreign   (founder & primary organizer)   … with support from Microsoft, AWS, Google, etc.,  … NOTE:   Caliber of Speakers ⟹  19.10.19  and 19.02.20

2. new    Houston  Kotlin  user group (KotlinLang.org/JetBrains approved)  …  Zane Moreign  (founder & primary organizer)  … with support from Kotlin/JetBrains & Java Champions, etc.,

3. new    C language focus added by Zane Moreign (inherited from Tex), with David Cravey's blessing, to David's  C++ user group, now, Houston C & C++ User Group

4. new (from 2018)    Houston  PostgreSQL  user group  … Zane Moreign (founder & primary organizer) …  with support from PostgreSQL.org leadership, who even sent PostgreSQL swag :-),

5. new   "NETWORKING"  focused programs & events: 

   1. • HybridCloudLabs™   BRING YOUR LAPTOP program for hands-on topics, such as, Machine Learning,  Azure,  Linux,  Zane's Simple_Safety™ series,  etc.  

      • Network-n-Talks™   program  to focus on  more time for Peer-to-Peer networking/connections/chats,  while still having some focused Talk(s). 

      • first   HybridCloudNow™  conference with HybridCloudFest™ (after-event),   HybridCloudConnect™,  and  New  HybridCloudInsiders™  are in collaboration with our founding patron,  HybridDecisions.com 

6. new   VARYING Monthly Cadence,   multiple Venue option,  multiple focus User Groups,  and other venues as needd — PLUS a whole lot more! 

Community Center venue:      HCCUG.org  @  Tracy Gee Community Center,  3599 Westcenter Dr, Houston, TX 77042

Microsoft Technology Center Venue:    HCCUG.org  @  Microsoft Technology Center,  750 Town and Country Blvd 1000, Houston, TX 77024

2020:  Covid, we shifted focus to helping 1:1 in our community  [details are confidential as it was 1:1 and we are pro-privacy].