> You are correct that Interex uses the term "HP World" at the pleasure
> of HP.
And is that a good relationship to have, for a user advocacy group? And is
Interex concerned that people interested in or working with hp platforms
might not recognize the name of the user group or conference? That Interex
2002 would have drawn fewer attendees than HP World? It almost seems like
iSeries (nee AS/400) folk own the term "midrange", and use it freely to
describe their trade rags, web sites, etc. Maybe Interex is better off not
being so beholden to HP.

> A conference like HP World is the product of partnerships;
> between Interex
> and HP, but also between many other parties. The balance of such a
> partnership can certainly be precarious at times.
As well it should be. Sometimes, user advocacy must act as "the loyal
opposition". Of course, if that's all they did, hp would probably try to sue
them out of existence, simply exhausting the group's resources by keeping
them in court. But, a user advocacy group ought to have their fingers on the
pulse of the user community in a way that all the marketing dollars in the
world cannot hope to realize. So the precarious relationship is truly love /
hate, where hp would be glad to see you rot, where it not for concentrating
the voices of their most important customers so very well. So the critic
becomes the best friend, except one normally likes one's best friend. Or,
perhaps the advocacy group is like family, who will tell you when your face
needs washing.

> I can think of plenty of
> things that HP could be torqued off about - like the presence
> of EMC and
> IBM on the vendor floor, to point out an obvious example.
> OTOH I can also think
> of plenty of things that Interex could be torqued off about -
> the press
> ban being the most visible currently.
Now, that's encouraging. But I must agree with Wirt. The loyal opposition
would have answered with choice words of one syllable (since some users use
wireless technology, FCC regs prevent me from providing the many relevant
examples). Or, as my wife would say, using one word with two syllables, "You
have GOT to be kidding!"

Greg Stigers
http://www.cgiusa.com

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