For those who may be wondering how the world's
largest poster project is coming, the answer is:
So far, so good (meaning we are crossing our
fingers as to what the wind velocity will be in
Anaheim on Monday 5 August).
 
Attached find copy of a press release that was
worked up over the last week.  Intent is to distribute
this to the public media:  LA TV stations, CNN, local
papers, Computerworld, etc.  Ron Seybold has
offered to handle the interface with the general
media types....  Since he is a professional at this
type of thing, that seemed like a good plan....
 
Anyway, here is the latest rev.
 
Ken Sletten
 
 
PRESS RELEASE:
 ---------------------------------------------------------
 
 
HP 3000 computer users to trump Mickey Mouse
 
 
ANAHEIM, Calif.  ----  Recently Hewlett-Packard
and Disney collaborated to produce the world's
largest computer-generated poster, making a big
splash printing an oversized "Mickey to the Max".
In conjunction with this year's HP World '96
Conference and Expo at the Anaheim Convention
Center, intensely loyal users of HP 3000 high-
performance minicomputers intend to go HP and
Disney one better, and beat Mickey Mouse on his
home turf.
 
The HP/Disney world record event saw HP color
printers generate 2,000-plus sheets of paper that
were assembled into a 27,000 square-foot poster
measuring 152 by 182 feet.  The HP 3000 mega-
poster will be made up of 2809 panels, each
measuring 3 by 4.5 feet, giving a total area of
38,000 square feet in a 159 by 238 foot layout.
 
Unlike the previous record by HP/Disney, which
was done as a product promotion for the two
corporations, this poster is being put together by
a completely random collection of individual HP
3000 users. There is no formal organization behind
the poster. The idea to put it together was born on
the Internet. The group of volunteers who are
assembling the poster each thought that doing this
was an ideal -- and enjoyable -- way to make a
gentle (if not somewhat irreverent) statement about
their belief in their chosen operating system.
 
The effort to put a new entry for the world's largest
poster in the Guinness Book of World Records will
feature the eye-catching headline "MPE Users Kick
Butt!", with three huge linemen covering much of the
football field.  The poster underscores the ability of
the HP 3000 to directly support popular
communication standards, and the applicability of
its MPE operating system to situations where world-
class companies bet their business on the computer
system they use.  HP 3000 users feel MPE has
distinct advantages for mission-critical business
applications, where efficiency, reliability, and tight
integration with the hardware and database
management system are paramount.
 
The assembly site for this new world's record poster
attempt will be on the practice field of Loara High
School in Anaheim, less than two miles from the
Convention Center.  Facing Disneyland on the north
side of the convention site, first turn left (west) on
Katella Ave.  Then proceed four blocks west on
Katella to Euclid.  Turn right (north) on Euclid and go
one block. Loara High and the practice field are in
the next block, at the corner of Euclid and Cerritos.
 
Volunteers will start laying out and securing the
individual components of the poster at 8:00 am on
Monday 5 August.  The last panel is scheduled to
be laid in place sometime between 11:00 am and
high noon.  This final critical phase of the project is
somewhat of a gamble, since the structural integrity
of the assembled poster is very much subject to the
vagaries of wind speed and direction. HP 3000 users
are not willing to risk any of the data in their computers,
but they are willing to lay a large amount of paper and
ink on the gridiron line to get their message across.
 
A helicopter has been chartered to provide a
photographic platform.  Lunch and refreshments will
be served.  The poster will have to be disassembled
and the area cleared before close of business the
same day, so the opportunity to see the fully
assembled project in person will be fleeting.
 
For more information, contact Ron Seybold at
512-331-0075 or [log in to unmask]