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NonStop Availability Award Contest Begins

The measurement period for the NonStop Availability Award began Wednesday, 1 October 2008. Click here to read more about this contest.

Connect Board Candidate Slate Announced

We are pleased to announce the 2009 Board of Directors slate has been approved by the Connect Board of Directors and is hereby presented to the membership for approval. The nominees comprising the slate were selected from a group of 17 highly qualified applicants by the Nominations Committee to fill the positions vacated by the five directors whose terms expire at the end of 2008. Through the nominations process, the Committee determined that each candidate, having demonstrated exemplary dedication and service to the HP user community, is qualified to serve as a director of the organization.

In accepting these nominations, the listed individuals and their employers are making a substantial commitment of both personal and organizational time and resources for the duration of their two-year term.

Results will be posted on the Connect Web site and published in Connect Now. If you have any questions regarding candidates or the voting process, please contact Connect Headquarters at info@connect-community.org or +1.312.321.6803.

Candidate Slate

Alan Dick, Logistic Information Systems (New Zealand)
Alan is Chairman of Encompass NZ and has been heavily involved with the Advocacy Steering Committee and the World Wide Survey of HP users. He has demonstrated an ability to work in multi-national/technology teams aiming to get the best possible outcome for all HP Business Technology Users.

Johnny Ip, Partner Software Ltd. (China)
Johnny has served the Confederation of HP User Groups (formerly known as DECUS or Compaq User Group) in the Asia Region for more than 15 years. He has served as the Chairman of Hong Kong and since 2003 has been Chairman of the Asia Region. He has also served a number of IT and volunteer organizations in the past 10-15 years including The Chinese University of Hong Kong Computer Science and Engineering Alumni Association, Hong Kong United Youth Information Technology Association and the China Youth Federation IT Youth Fellowship Association.

Chris Koppe, Speedware Ltd. (Canada)
Chris was a member of the steering committee (representing Encompass) that was responsible for consolidation of the user groups and the creation of the Connect. He has served on the Boards of Directors of Encompass and Interex in various capacities, including Secretary, Treasurer, and most recently Vice President. He has also served in numerous roles to help provide direction to the HP Technology Forum & Expo. Currently, Chris is Chairman of the Connect IT committee.

Jay McLaughlin, comForte Inc. (USA)
Jay is currently a member of the Connect Board of Directors, with responsibility for overseeing the marketing and event committees. Prior to joining the Connect Board, he was a member of the ITUG Board of Directors and was heavily involved in building the new user community. As a contributor to the creation of this community, Jay provided his time and expertise to allow Connect to succeed in creating a strong, unified and independent voice to our primary partner, HP. Jay's volunteer career started at the grass roots level within ITUG and has grown from there, allowing him the opportunity to develop a respect and appreciation for all aspects of the community and the interests of users, partners and HP.

Leo van Schie, Partner Performance BV (The Netherlands)
Leo has been active in the user community for a number of years. As a member of the Interex Netherlands Board, he was instrumental in creating the first integrated user community (Compaq UG, DECUS, Interex, and ITUG) and he is looking forward to bringing this ability to the Connect Board of Directors.

Scott Healy
Immediate Past President & Nominations Committee Chairman

Gluwhein, Schnitzel, and More!
By Nina Buik, Connect President

Greetings again from Mannheim. We had such a fantastic time last evening at the Connect reception at Boothaus. The local German fare was great, the beer ice cold, and I had my first ever gluwhein, a hot red wine served with an orange slice….very good on a cold German evening. We packed the house and while some played Wii Sports others danced and enjoyed the great local cover band that played sounds from the 80’s and up. HP sponsored the reception and Comforte sponsored the entertainment. Whew, it was slow going this morning ;-)

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Innovation – simply put!
By Richard Buckle

I am still working from my Simi Valley office, where I will remain until the Thanksgiving weekend. I am still an early riser and have drifted into a pattern of heading to the Starbucks next door, joining other early rises, for the first coffee for the day. But now the days have grown shorter, and it’s always dark. The picture above I snapped this morning, as the full moon above the corner coffee shop was quite a sight.

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Connect's Prospects
By Jim Becker
I’m sensing good mood, optimism, and enthusiasm from the Connect leadership. I’m basing this on yesterday’s chapter leader meeting, and some impromptu hallway discussions with Connect Board members. I’ve also talked to some participants from each of the “progenitor” user groups I’ve encountered.

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Musings on Mission Critical Computing
By Martin Fink
Over the past few weeks I had the opportunity to visit a number of UNIX customers. In my discussions with them they brought up differing needs. There is a set of customers that are looking to stabilize their environment.

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