I'd like to respond to the ideas in the following statement.

> I think our energy and $$ can be more wisely spent developing
   new systems and solutions for our favorite platform. Let CSY
   fight the battle internal at HP for mindshare. Besides,
   I'm beginning to tire of all this negative talk. Its beginning to
   appear like a bunch of little kids jumping up and down whining that
> they aren't getting what they want.

The internal battle.   This hands-off approach strikes me as sort of
childish, that is, to sit back and depend upon others to decide one's
fate.    One lesson of growing up is that often part of getting what
you want is asking for it.

On negative talk.   One person's "whining" is anothers "getting it off
my chest".   We are amoung friends here are we not?   I say feel free
to whine.   There is room in productive communication for negative
thoughts.   That is the normal course of human progress.   First we
wimper and lick our wounds, lay up for a while, then go forth and
change the world.

On the other hand I do want the conversation to shift from the past to
the future.   In other words, how to take effective action.   I think
our last go-around before HP World was effective.   I know for
instance that the Wall Street Journal's west coast reporter that
covers HP was unaware of the HP e3000 up until a few weeks ago.   Now
he is aware of the '3000 and my thoughts on how HP is sending mixed
messages about the HP e3000 and killing the platform by silence.

One thing that did bother me the last go around was, in my opinion,
how diffuse and even confused the message was.    I believe joint
action around a few clear points will get the best results.

To me the key points are:

First do no harm.   The cumulative effect of HP's marketing strategy
is harmful to the future of the HP e3000 platform.

Stake holders.   The future of the platform also impacts the futures
of HP e3000 customers and IT professionals.    We have a legitimate
stake in this.

Mixed message.   One part of HP says they support the HP e3000 while
the top guys "kill it with silence".

Acknowledgement.    We are not asking for a major marketing campaign,
we are asking for mere acknowledgement of it's existence, three words
"HP three thousand".

Subsidiary point - Branding.   The HP e3000 experience potentially
sends a poor message about HP being a reliable, long term partner.
We are willing to use this story as leverage to get the attention of
corporate HP.

Cortlandt Wilson