Super, and please do not forget to vote later this month.

Kind regards,

Denys. . .

Denys Beauchemin
HICOMP
(800) 323-8863  (281) 288-7438         Fax: (281) 355-6879
denys at hicomp.com                             www.hicomp.com


-----Original Message-----
From:   Gary Sielaff [SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
Sent:   Friday, September 29, 2000 8:52 AM
To:     [log in to unmask]; [log in to unmask]
Subject:        Re:      Re: [HP3000-L] Interex

Denys,
I read everyword.  Well put, and I am going to
continue with my membership.
Apathy is everyone's worst enemy.
Gary Sielaff
----- Original Message -----
From: "Denys Beauchemin" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, September 28, 2000 3:34 PM
Subject: Re: [HP3000-L] Interex


> Earlier today I was cleaning out a storage area at the office, wanting to
throw
> some things out to make more room for new junk.  I came across my stash of
old
> conference guides, amongst which I found copies of the ones for Montreal
'83
> and Washington '85.  I was chairman of the former and a speaker at the
latter.
>
> Please bear with me as I reminisce and compare what was then to what is
now.
>
> The name for the 1983 conference was "HP 3000 IUG CONFERENCE 1983".
>
> There were 64 vendors at the show, here is a short list of some you might
> recognize:
>
> Adager out of Apartment 248 in Antigua, Guatemala.
> Bradford Business Systems
> Collier & Jackson
> Dynamic Information Systems Corp.
> Hewlett-Packard Co.
> Infocentre (now Speedware)
> McCormack & Dodge
> MCBA
> Qualex Technology
> Quasar Systems (now Cognos)
> Smith, Dennis and Gaylord, Inc.
> Tymlabs Corp.
> Type Ahead Engine Company (now Telamon)
> VESoft
> Wick Hill Associates
>
> The 2000 conference was a high water mark in vendor participation with
over 200
> vendors.  Just to give you an idea, if we combine this year's HP and
Interex
> booths, that was the size of the entire Montreal vendor show in 1983.
>
> But, you say, hold on there.  In Montreal, all the vendors were pure 3000
> vendors, in Philadelphia that was certainly not the case, I had to look
for the
> 3000 vendors.
>
> Well not really, the list of vendors in Montreal included many hardware
> resellers and several consulting houses.  In fact, I would say that only
about
> 30-35 vendors were pure-3000 focused.  In Philadelphia a lot of vendors
had
> 3000 products as well as other platforms.  Are you a single platform shop,
 with
> just HP 3000s and terminals?
>
> Ok, ok.  Well all the papers were 3000 related and that's a lot more than
was
> the case in Philadelphia.
>
> Well, in Montreal there were about 85 papers and all the papers were 1
hour.
>  There were numerous "soft" talks, you know management type stuff.  The
program
> was divided into 8 categories:
>
> Communications (7 talks including one by a certain N.M. Demos)
> Data Base support (7 talks including one by a certain Bob Green)
> Language Support (2 talks)
> Management (The "soft" talks, 15 talks)
> Peripheral Software ( 1 talk  (I remember that we wanted more talks here
but
> didn't get any.))
> Productivity Tool (4GLs) (6 talks including one by a certain Robert
Karlin)
> System Management (21 talks including some by a Jason Goertz and a Ross
> Scroggs)
> User Applications (25 talks including some by an N.M. Demos (again), a
Terry
> Floyd and a Eugene Volokh)
>
> Compare this to 43 hours of pure MPE stuff at HP World 2000, no management
> talks, no soft talks, no User application talks in number, just pure MPE
talks.
>  I am not even including the SIGs and the BOFs in this figure.
>
> The attendance in Montreal was something a little over 1,100 and it was
over
> 10,000 in Philadelphia, 14,000 in San Francisco 99.
>
> Could the users group have survived just catering to the HP 3000 users?
Sure
> it could.  Would it have grown like it has?  Nope.  Would it have the
influence
> that it has now on HP.  Well, maybe with CSY, but with HP as a whole, no
way!
>
> Also one must remember that Interex has had IPROF for several years, pure
MPE
> content, and in response to user requests, has morphed it into the
Solution
> Symposium and the SIG3000 meetings.  It has also, over the years,
supported
> SIGIMAGE and SIGMPE amongst many other SIGs.
>
> Other significant advocacy vehicles of Interex are the various improvement
> ballots.  These things are very visible within HP and if only more of you
> participated in them, they would only get better.
>
> But now to the matter at hand.  Why should you join Interex or renew your
> membership?  I hope the above analysis has shown you the 3000 is very well
> represented at the conferences and in other Interex activities.  But
beyond
> this, advocacy is very much alive within Interex and HP is listening to
you the
> users, through your users group.
>
> If you say, I don't need to join Interex because I never go to the
conferences
> or the symposium or the SIGs, that's one thing.  But in this age of
instant
> communication, if you feel there is an issue that is not being addressed
by
> Interex, I urge you to send an email to Interex.  You can always send a
message
> to the board of directors at [log in to unmask] and to give it more weight,
> include your membership number.  If you are just whining on this list and
are
> not a member of Interex, well you get about a thousand people listening to
you
> for one or two minutes (well, those that don't hit the delete key) and
then
> they quickly forget about it.  Some of you complained about various
aspects of
> the conference.  I bet none of you have sent any message to Interex about
it.
>  I know none has come to the board.  And whining on this listserv is only
that,
> whining.
>
> I look at the recent effort to place an ad in the WSJ.  If, instead of
this,
> everyone on this list who is not a member of Interex (about 900) became a
> member and VOTED in the elections (which are coming up BTW,) and
participated
> in the various improvement ballots, that would make a bigger impact than
the ad
> and that impact would last much longer.
>
> Advocacy is not a one time thing!  It is an on-going effort that requires
> dedication and commitment.  The users group was originally created for
this.
>  So what if there are disappointments and relapses?  You don't give up.
You
> keep at it.
>
> If you do not participate in your local RUG, don't be surprised when it
goes
> away.
>
> If you do not participate in Interex, don't be surprised if it goes away
or no
> longer addresses your issues.
>
> If you decide to not renew or not join in the first place, just remember:
>  apathy is the HP 3000's worst enemy.
>
> Do not be surprised if the 3000 gets totally ignored by HP management.
>
> Kind regards,
>
> Denys. . .
>
> Denys Beauchemin
> Member of Interex Board of Directors.
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From:   Chuck Ryan [SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent:   Thursday, September 28, 2000 1:40 PM
> To:     [log in to unmask]
> Subject:        Re: Interex
>
> Good question, I told my manager last month not to bother renewing.
>
> I guess it depends on if you use their site and/or believe that are acting
> as an advocate for the 3000 community.
>
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Gary Sielaff [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
> > Sent: Thursday, September 28, 2000 1:21 PM
> > To: [log in to unmask]
> > Subject: [HP3000-L] Interex
> >
> >
> > Okay, there has been a lot of chat here about Interex
> > and I just got a bill for $595.00 for another year of it.
> > Tell me again what I need it for?
> > Please (least I forget).
> > tks
> > Gary
> >