A more intimate conference for HP 3000 managers takes off this September in the shadows of the NASA space complex, when the Greater Houston Regional Users Group (GHRUG) launches the first International MPE/iX Conference, September 14-15.

Costs have just come online for the two-day show, hosted on the University of Houston Clear Lake campus. The university's halls are draped with tributes and triumphs of the US space program; UH Clear Lake students apply themselves to aeronautics studies, then often proceed to the nearly NASA Johnson Space Center for careers.

The 3000 community is boosting its second conference for customers, managers and vendors to the platform, after a whip-smart rollout last fall. Even though HP has proposed an end to its support of the 3000, December 2008 is still not the final date for HP's operations on the platform. HP's has said, "at least" that long. Customers are carrying migration plans and homesteading practices well into 2009 and beyond.

Meanwhile, GHRUG's MPE/iX Conference announced its costs this week. Attendees who register before June 29 pay only $150. Once the early bird rate runs out, from June 30 until August 3 registration goes up only $50, to $200. From August 4 onward to the conference start date, attendance is $300.