Given that attendance at the two SolSymps were reported to be disappointing
and that there were few MPE types at this year's HP World, perhaps there is
not the base to support three events (two SolSymps and HP World).

I think SolSymp is a great thing, and would have been the event I would
have attended this year were it not for schedule conflicts. I don't have an
unlimited conference budget and I can't justify going to both a SolSymp and
HP World, nor do those of my clients who still go to conferences (most
don't anymore).

If there is only one MPE-centric conference per year, Cupertino is a
logical place to have it.

At 10:22 AM 8/19/2003 -0500, Denys Beauchemin wrote:
>Up until last year, the Solutions Symposium, which is TOTALLY dedicated to
>MPE (you could not get more 3000-centric than the
>SolSymp) was held every year in or near Cupertino.  So last year, in order
>to cater to a wider audience, Interex put on 2 Symposia,
>one on the East Coast and one on the West Coast.  The programs were
>virtually identical.  They were totally MPE-centric.  There is a
>small exhibition, with some tables.  The cost was much reduced from HP World.
>
>Now you are suggesting that we go back to a single event.  This event
>would take place in or near Cupertino because you need the HP
>presence.  This is not the cheapest place in the country to travel
>to.  People would still have to fly in and stay at a hotel.
>Granted, they do not have to stay at the main hotel (were the meeting
>rooms are located, and one needs to pay for these meeting
>rooms,) one could stay at a "cheaper" place.  You could do that before and
>you could do that at HP World.
>
>Irrespective of the flight, the hotel accommodations, etc... it is decided
>to hold the cost of the registration to as close to $0 as
>possible.  Universities or colleges could be canvassed to find one or two
>cheap/free meeting rooms.  It might even have some A/V
>equipment, but probably not, so you may have to rent some.  Now, these
>colleges probably do not have hotels/motels nearby, so one
>would need a car.  That is not something I usually rent at HP World of
>SolSymp.  Maybe we could sleep in the dorm.  Well, you could,
>but at my age, sleeping in a communal environment lost its appeal, decades
>ago.
>
>Now, since we are holding the costs way down, we will of course dispense
>with a program, lunches, drinks and such other
>arrangements.  We will make up the program as we go.  That is good as far
>as it goes, but it sort of prevents someone from going
>into any kind of depth on a subject.  Let's say I want to talk about
>volume management, why would others want to talk about that in
>depth?  Is there a speaker for this subject?  Any handouts?  If I don't
>want to attend that talk, is there another talk at the same
>time?  Do I have a choice?  Who organized this shindig?
>
>Well, now I only need to go to my management and say:  I want to take 3-5
>days off, fly across the country and attend a get-together
>to talk about MPE.  There are no registration fees and no set agenda
>either.  We will be meeting in a room at the local Y and oh, I
>need to rent a car because the nearest hotel is 4 miles away and we have
>to go out for lunch and dinner.
>
>
>
>Denys

--
Tom Brandt
Northtech Systems, Inc.
130 S. 1st Street, Suite 220
Ann Arbor, MI 48104-1343
http://www.northtech.com/

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