Reunion's events roll out to Saturday's toast
September 22, 2011
The HP3000 Reunion has now arranged nearly all of its scheduled activities for the Thursday through Saturday evening gathering. It will be largest HP 3000 meeting in more than five years, including some original HP 3000 engineers and some of the best-known advocates and entrepreneurs for the platform.
Among those leading the way will be Allegro Consultants VP Stan Sieler, who's leading a tour of the exhibits on Saturday evening. Stan, who's a docent at the museum, starts his tour at the cafe in the museum at 6:30. He says there's a special prize for the first person who can spot the only direct reference to an HP 3000 on the exhibit floor. The prize is a signed copy of Beyond RISC, the seminal book -- now out of print -- on the HP 3000 of the modern era. This is a tour not to be missed. Supper is available between 6-8:30, so there's plenty of time to tour and grab some grub. Details on the menu are at the Reunion's website, hp3000reunion.com. Check there for updates through Saturday.
Most of the Reunion's meetings take place in the Boole Room of the Computer History Museum, 1401 N. Shoreline Blvd in Mountain View. The CHM is located just off the 101 freeway (directions here). While the 3000 members celebrate and extend learning about a computer first built in 1972, most of the events are just a quarter-mile down the road from the Google-plex empire.
Thursday's meeting is the Eloquence User Group conference, hosted by the database's creators Marxmeier Software. Starting at 10 AM (reception open at 9 with coffee and refreshments), the meeting will update recent Eloquence enhancements. It will show how to make best use of the Eloquence database over a range of tasks, including backup and recovery, replication, database security. The meeting, open to all, will also review the upcoming Eloquence 8.20 release.
"Most important to us is getting in touch with our customers," said Marxmeier's Ruth Schürrle, "and we are happy to include additional topics of interest."
Thursday is also the first evening of discounted hotel room rates at the Reunion's official hotel, the Cupertino Inn. Thursday's nights are $149, while Friday, Saturday and Sunday are $99 nightly. One lucky attendee will receive either a free room night, or a free ticket to the Saturday night party. Tickets remain on sale online at $60 through PayPal. Friday's events span both the CHM and the Cupertino Inn, as do those on Saturday.
Later that evening around 6:30, the CAMUS user group will have a meeting followed by a poolside reception at the Cupertino Inn. Members of the group will meet at the pool, then proceed to the DeAnza Room at the Inn for their meeting. Then it's back poolside, for socializing.
Saturday marks the busiest day of the Reunion. The DeAnza Room at the Cupertino Inn will have a technical in-depth presentation on Zelus from 10-12. Lead developer Igor Abramov will answer questions via a WebEx link to the room. Lengthy US State Department delays led to Abramov missing a visa opportunity to attend the Reunion in person.
The CHM is open to the public for regular admissions on Saturday, Sept. 24. By 5 PM Saturday the museum closes to the public, and its exhibits re-open at 5:30 for the private use of Reunion partiers. Somewhere in the neighborhood of 8:30 or so, a round of sparkling wine will pass across the glasses held high on the floor of the museum's Great Room. Those gathered, ranging from as far back as 1960s HP'ers to those still planning for the future of the computer in the coming years, will toast nearly four decades of service and stories, and success, foolishness and memories.
If you're not registered, you can still sign on at the Registration website. We hope to see you walk up with your $60 in hand at the door, to savor the experience of meeting and reconnecting with kindred spirits.