HP/Works and InterWorks
by John Owen
Regular readers of PING will know that we work closely with InterWorks, our equivalent organisation in the US. InterWorks is a prime source of information about all things HP, and their web site is well worth an occasional visit - there is a pointer from the HP/Works web site. Amongst the many pages of information, are reprints of the majority of the InterWorks conference papers from this and previous years.
HP/Works recently signed on as a Chapter of InterWorks. Our two organisations remain separate, but establishing Chapter status was the most practical way of ensuring that HP/Works members receive all the benefits of information from InterWorks. Some of this appears in PING, some on the web and some is posted to the HP/Works mailing list (if you want to be added to this list please email me at j.g.owen@bham.ac.uk). It means we can also keep in close touch with developments in the US and organise events over here as trends develop.
The InterWorks conference is, in my opinion, the best way of keeping up to date with technical advances. In the June 97 issue of PING I reported on my visit to the 1997 InterWorks conference in Philadelphia. These annual conferences are held in April - in 1998 the conference will be in Santa Clara, California in the heart of Silicon Valley, between 25 and 30 April, and, as with last year, we anticipate that HP will meet the registration costs of several european delegates (this is worth about $700 per delegate).
Details are still sketchy but we hope to have everything in place by the new year at which point we will have to move quickly to allocate places. Because of the timescale the majority of information about registration will go out firstly to the maillist, and places will be allocated on a first-come first served basis for people who can confirm that they are able to attend. If you want to register an interest (but not at this stage confirm a place) let us know, and start convincing your boss of the value of the trip. (If he/she wants a personal recommendation get them to contact me!)
