CTUG Regular Executive Board Meeting

March 5, 2004 - Minutes

Attendees:

Javid Quadri
Dick Bird
Pio Gomes
Marlon Henry
Randall Becker
Alvin Wong

Regrets:

Philippe Olivieri
John Lee
Marc Lafontaine

Meeting Duration:

11:50PM - 12:52PM

Meeting Location:

Conference Call

Old Business:

1. Previous meeting approval
   • Approval moved by Pio, seconded by Alvin
2. Spring Conference Planning - Education Day
   • Javid and Dick reported that ITUG had replied to a request for confirmation of Education day suggesting that a form needed to be filled out in order to process the request. Javid reported that he had responded that CTUG was not happy with the response, as the initial request had been made in January, and repeated requests for confirmation had been made, without a response, including a mention at the last ITUG RUG leadership call. Javid reported that ITUG had apologized for the mix-up and would attempt to rectify the situation, but that CTUG should attempt to contact HP Education directly. Dick indicated that he had made inquiries, and the materials would be available, however, the usual instructor was not available for our conference, so he would attempt to find a suitable and qualified instructor. Dick felt that he was certain that the Education Day could continue as intended, and all correspondence should be made with that intention. Randy suggested that communication be made with Richard Buckle to the effect that there was a scheduling issue, and given the new relationship between ITUG and CTUG, that better support is expected from ITUG.
   • Action Item: Dick to confirm details of Education Day
3. Montreal Technical Session - ITUG Review Update
   • Little action had been undertaken since the last meeting. Denis indicated that he had sent feedback to Claude, and they were expecting to communicate with Angelo. Dick reported that he had met with Angelo, and that Angelo had made the offer to host an event, with HP speakers, for an NonStop update, and had yet to hear back. Dick indicated that the session should not conflict with the Spring Conference. Randy asked that if this was to be a paying event, and if it was, whether a separate conference call was warranted with Marc and Denis. Javid indicated that at this point, it was up to Marc and Denis to decide what direction they wanted to take, and that CTUG had provided input and raised their constraints regarding a Montreal session. A call could be pursued, but until the scope of the session was decided it would probably not be fruitful. Javid reported that there was not a viable road show that could go to Montreal, but that an Education Day could be arranged. Dick said that would work only if the numbers warranted it. Dick said that HP could provide the speakers, and the venue, and in addition the food, but that then would not be a CTUG event. This item is deferred until the next meeting.
   • Action Item: Marc, Angelo, Denis and Claude to consider the direction of the session.
4. Spring Conference Planning
   • Date and Location: April 14, 2004 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. Education Day on April 15, 2004.
   • Speakers confirmed: Paul Tsaparis, President and CEO of HP (Canada) to give welcome to the conference; Scott Healey to give keynote speech; Suri Harish to give NED update; Richard Buckle, Chairman of ITUG, to give an ITUG update; Terry Shannon of Shannon Knows HP to give his perspective.
   • Education Day Course selected: Web Services for the NonStop Server - awaiting ITUG and HP confirmation
   • Credit Card Payments are live!! We can accept Visa, MasterCard, Amex. Javid and Randy indicated that pre-registrants must pay up front, in order to commit to the conference. Those wishing to pay at the conference would have to pay the full price, and could only pre-register a few weeks prior to the conference. Dick tested the process and was happy with the results. Randy mentioned that there were some reporting features that were available which would facilitate the construction of the name tags for the conference.
   • Pio ordered shirts, pad and pens. Delivery is expected by the end of March.
   • Fred Griffith has volunteered to help out at the conference. Javid indicated that the most need was at the registration process.
   • Javid indicated that the schedule should be tweaked, to start registration at 7:40am until 8:40am. Javid's introduction would be until 8:45am. The first morning break should be extended by 5 minutes (to 10 minutes), and the second morning break should be shortened by 5 minutes (to 15 minutes) to allow for setup of vendor tracks.
   • Line Item Review of Conference Checklist Items Highlights: Javid reported that he and Dick had a good conversation with Scott Healey, and the presentation sounded interesting, focusing on the architecture and business issues as well as the technical issues of the ticket reservation system developed by Sabre. A second meeting would be held on March 25th to finalize details. Javid indicated that Terry Shannon had submitted a number of ideas, and would certainly talk about the integration of HP and Compaq, two years later, and the state of NonStop. Marlon is designing the exhibit floor and will submit to the MTCC for confirmation. Following that, he will send it out to vendors for booth selection. Javid and Marlon will discuss the conference details such as setup and menu, prior to Marlon meeting with the MTCC to confirm details. Dick indicated that he would not be able to secure 4 projectors, and the best he could do was 2, but that he couldn't verify that. Javid asked if he could confirm what he could arrange, and let Javid know, so that alternate arrangements could be made. Alvin and Marlon indicated that invoices had been mailed to all of the vendors. Pio indicated that he was so far unsuccessful in securing sponsorship of any breaks, but that vendors were providing a number of prizes for the conference.
5. Adjournment
   • Adjourned at 12:52 PM. Moved by Alvin, seconded by Dick.
   • Next Meeting: March 19, 2004
   • Minutes taken by: Javid Quadri