Who is sponsoring ILUG2008? Or rather, who isn't?
by Volker Weber
Comments
Yeah, I noticed that too: shame on you Microsoft!
:-D
Hmmm? I don't see Bluewave on that list. Maybe they're a bit skint after assimilating BE Systems? (said with tounge firmly in cheek).
Before you all start ranting, wanting to test my flame proof underwear -- Yes I do know that Paul & Warren have done a ton of organising for this event, and most of it off their own backs. It's just strange that Bluewave aren't on the list of sponsors. Curious ..?
Actually, come to think of it, where are Guinness & Bullmer? Surely they should be on that list??
Lots of people arent on the list - which is a shame - but there are space considerations in terms of being an exhibitor. One of the 'behind the scenes' things happening right now is Paul asking for space for 'one more' exhibitor, and Eileen howling at the moon.
---* Bill
Actually, I'll chime in unofficially on the Bluewave question... and then Paul can correct me. :)
Paul purposely does that to make sure there is no appearance of conflict of interest between who runs the event and who sponsors the event. As this is a "user" group meeting (yeah, right!), Paul (and everyone else) wants to make sure this is organized by and for users, and isn't an unofficial sales pitch for any single vendor.
In fact, I believe that in prior years, Bluewave actually wanted to sponsor and Paul rejected the idea for the reasons above.
This "ethics" thing is hard work. :)
At the risk of stating the obvious, I'm pretty sure that Volker wasn't pointing the finger at Bluewave ;-)
As long as the 8-bar logo makes it up there as sponsor of the evening entertainment like last year, I think most folks will be happy...
Don't worry, vowe, IBM will be an ILUG sponsor, and this post has no influence on finishing that process. We can make things happen without external pressure, really.
I guess IBM will show up as a sponsor as soon as they actually commit to sponsoring the conference.
Bluewave can't be a sponsor... trust me, they want to be but in the early years people hinted that it was a Bluewave gig in disguise because I was involved.... which ruined the idea of it being a user group.
So, we put together a rule - no business partners selling services can sponsor. Product selling is fine... That may not always be the case, as I don't think we have to prove it's independence anymore. That being said, I owe a lot to Bluewave for this, as they have constantly helped me out behind the scenes.
As for IBM sponsoring, I know they will, but they are just fighting paperwork to make it happen.
they are just fighting paperwork to make it happen
I don't know whether it's funny or sad. IBM is in the business of helping other companies to speed up their business processes, and time and again they are slower than everybody else. Blackberry has been a gold sponsor for weeks, and it isn't even their product which is front and center at this conference.
@Paul: My apologies for "implicating" Bluewave. I was sure that you guys had been sponsors at previous events. Now I understand why you haven't.
