I think I attributed the sample ad to the wrong individual--my apologies!

Sletten Kenneth W KPWA wrote:
>
> Mark provided some thoughtful comments:
>
> > Early on, I was leaning toward a more confrontational ad, but
> > a couple of postings has me thinking twice.
>
> Thinking twice or even three times before forking over $150K
> to do the Madison Avenue thing is probably not out of order...
> :-)
>
> > ... I was moved by Winston's posting.   Call it wishful thinking,
> > but I detected frustration in his words that seems as deep as
> > ours.
>
> Oh;  I agree:  It might even be said that it was actually pretty
> brave of Winston to in effect come out and say that the senior
> managers that he reports to screwed up;  I thought his post was
> great !!...
>
> > ......   I also think that Chris Bartram, among others, has
> > injected a dose of professionalism to the quest.
>
> Chris usually does that...      :-)
>
> > ....  So here are some quick thoughts:
> >
> > I would not want to make Winston's or CSY's job harder than
> > it is.
>
> Nobody wants to do that;  there job is hard enough as it is...
>
> > .....  For the time being, divide and conquer may not give us
> > what we want.
>
> While I suppose it's possible some might see it that way, I don't
> think the type of WSJ ad we have been talking about is really a
> "divide and conquer" thing;  it's more (like Cortlandt said):
> "telling HP as a Corporate entity want we want; saying what we
> mean"....
>
> > If we take the confrontational/emotion approach, we really
> > must be honest with ourselves and make sure it doesn't come
> > off as a bunch of whining losers.
>
> I agree;  that would be a mistake...
>
> > If we try to set the fight up as MPE vs. them (the other
> > OS's), we'll lose, IMHO.
>
> We certain don't want to present it as "MPE versus HP-UX"....
> but the cold, hard truth is that "MPE vs. the other OS" is exactly
> what it comes down to....   HP will never itself present "MPE is
> so much better than HP-UX" (nor should we expect them to)..
> But there is nothing that stops we the users from saying that
> MPE is better than generic "others".
>
> > .....   The HPe3000 is the computer that plays well with
> > others and it should be marketed that way.  "Worried about
> > choosing the wrong computer system?  The HPe3000 works
> > with all of the current fads...and beyond." (This would appeal
> > to the lemming managers who read the WSJ and have a
> > difficult job making decisions).
>
> Last above is excellent material for the home page of
> http://www.mpe4ever.org  , IMO...   :-)
>
> > What is our real goal?  Call HP stupid in public  .....
>
> Certainly not....     :-)
>
> > .....  or make those wimpy managers comfortable with adding
> > a e3K to the computer room?
>
> That is one of the main "second-step" goals...  But don't lose
> sight of the *primary* catalyst for all this email energy lately:
> HP *as a Corporation* clearly and explicitly said it had three
> (and by clear extension ONLY three) strategic OS.  Until that
> fundamental disconnect is corrected *by HP*, no matter what
> we say in any ad, those wimpy managers will never reach the
> required comfort level.  Putting the 3000 in front of the WSJ
> readership is by itself a good and desirable thing, but IMO the
> *primary* initial objective is to in a professional but direct way
> "encourage" Carly & Co. to change their ways WRT the 3000.
>
> > Whatever we choose, we should consider giving HP
> > management a path to "save face"
>
> We already have:  They can acknowledge the correctness of
> Wirt's suggestion, and start bragging a little about the HP 3000
> above the level of CSY....  To be perfectly honest, if nobody in
> HP above CSY is willing to do that at all, I'm not *inclined* to
> leave them a way to save face, because I know that somewhere
> down the road we will have an unhappy outcome....
>
> > ..... and use this as an opportunity to get some positive
> > notoriety for the e3000 in the press.  I think including the
> > examples of the air-lines, e-commerce, Samba, Apache, etc.
> > like Birket posted would go a long way to this end.
>
> Absolutely:  More great material for the home and other pages
> at www.mpe4ever.org  .     :-)
>
> > Finally, while I agree with the web-site idea, ilovempe or
> > welovempe or even mpe4ever is a little too emotional to end
> > a well-reasoned ad.
>
> I find myself agreeing with Mark about "ilovempe" and
> "welovempe"...  In fact now that I look at those again, I "vote"
> (FWIW) pretty strongly against either of those....   Just my
> personal take, I don't see "mpe4ever" as being nearly as
> "emotional" as the other two....  but if even "mpe4ever" is
> considered too "risky", remember:   www.e3000.org   is
> "owned" by a friendly usual suspect;  who is willing to make
> that available...  Either mpe4ever or e3000.org are O.K. by
> me....   but if time is of the essence, remember that e3000.org
> is already registered and ready to go.....
>
> > OK, I have to send my check in.  I will go with the majority
> > - whatever that may be.
>
> :-)   me too....
>
> Rivers "did the credit card thing today" Ken
>
> P.S.:  If anyone still has the thread energy to look at it,
> attached find plain text version of my considerably revised
> latest beta ad;  that I formatted up and sent to a few members;
> hoping that one of them might take pity on those of us
> constrained by non-negotiable firewall requirements and throw
> it up for me on the web somewhere, so y'all could have another
> example to look at...  Original credits to Wirt for the majority
> of the words.  I think this looks good in either "full-page" or
> "half-page" proportions (YOMV)....  and IMO this is about
> as "minimalist confrontational" as we can get without losing
> focus on the core objectives.....:
> ===========================================
>
> {< start of left-hand column >}
>
> Hey, Carly !!
>
> The MPE Operating System and Image/SQL DBMS that
> Hewlett-Packard invented 25 years ago are STILL the
> best in the world....  and they just keep getting better.
>
> Vendors who want computers that will survive tomorrow's
> competition will have to make them simple, reliable, and
> easy to use.  The HP e3000 already meets that future
> need better than any other commercial database platform
> in existence.
>
> Don't be modest:  Now is the time for HP to brag about the
> strategic advantages enjoyed by customers who run their
> businesses on the HP e3000, while users of other platforms
> spend time running their computers....
>
> {< end of left-hand column >}
>
> {< start of right-hand column  (Yes:  At the *TOP*);  >}
> {< on the same line as the large font "Hey, Carly".    >}
>
> http://www.mpe4ever.org
>
> <<
> A
> Really
> Nice
> Picture
> of
> a
> Big
> Mature
> Snowy
> Owl
> >>
>
> Who Knew ??
>
> This advertisement was paid for by over XXXX individual
> end-users of the HP 3000.
>
> {< end of right-hand column >}
> ==================================== END

--
Julie Bixby
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