[HPCC-Conf] Too Quiet?

[Tony Duell]

> > Well, considering the constitution states that the club is independant of
> > HP, then I guess we have to remain independant of HP, at least for the
> > moment. This does not mean that we don't welcome members who happen to
> > work for HP, it doesn't mean that we don't welcome HP people (who aren't
> > members) as guests of the club if they wish to provide us with
> > presentations, information, and so on.
> 
> Tony, don't fool yourself.  If a club becomes meaningful in the marketplace,
> HP will control and manipulate it to the maximum extent possible.  That is

In which case, I would hope the committee would join with me in telling 
HP just what we think of that sort of thing. I would certainly rather be 
a member of a club that had no contact with HP at all (just with other 
enthusiasts) than a club that was part of HP's marketing department.

In fact, should the club essentially become controlled by HP, I would 
_certainly_ resign. Nothing would convince me to remain a member, period.

> > > I am not aware of any person that was excluded from anything.  Please
> > > tell me about it - on line or off line.  What I think is important here
> is
> 
> I was excluded from Sunday afternoon, as I was locked out of the building.

Brilliant!

> It seems contradictory that, on one hand, they lock us into the building and
> lock us out of the building, but on the other hand, they cannot assure the
> security of our belongings.   Suggestion:  if you put on another conference,
> don't do it at Imperial College.   (I prefer a Las Vegas hotel: cheap rooms,

We (HPCC committee) did consider other venues for the conference. The 
problem is that we need somewhere that is :

1) close to central London (both because the regulars at the monthly 
meetings can all get to central London and because overseas visitors want 
to come to somewhere where there are other things to do for them and 
their families).

2) Affordable (hiring rooms in London is expensive, very!)

3) Suitable for a conference (so not a room over a pub where some drunken 
idiot will fall through the door at the wrong moment). 

4) Several other things that I've forgotten

If anyone has any serious suggestions, then I am sure the committee would 
like to hear them (if only for the next conference in 5 years time).

> > 2) I was told that I shouldn't bother attending the Friday night
> > 'welcome' and the Monday morning breakfast, and that I wouldn't be made
> > welcome if I did turn up.
> 
> Who the hell told you that?   I wanted to be there Friday night, but

I have no intention of starting a flamefest by mentioning names. It 
doesn't help, it's over now anyway.

> Wlodek's e-mail was rejected by my ISP.  I have no doubt that your charm,
> eloquence, and charisma would have added as much to the meeting as mine.

nest-to-nothing?

> > [1] OK, I did learn one thing. That almost nobody is interested in
> > hardware hacking any more. I guess that's no suprise, though.
> 
> I did visit the library there and photocopy the two reports on the Ludgate
> machine.  Does that qualify as "hardware"?

Probably :-). But I must admit I prefer a more hands-on approach to 
hardware -- hacking it, not reading about it ;-)

-tony