jmi@dac.mdcbbs.com (JM Ivler) (02/15/91)
In article <1991Feb11.133456.6426@rodan.acs.syr.edu>, jareed@rodan.acs.syr.edu (Judith Ann Reed) writes: > In today's post, Earle Ake comments about no responses so far to Carl > Marbach's article in the Feb '91 issue of DEC Professional about "The > Decline Of DECUS". I tried to post this Friday, but it evidently didn't make > it, so I'll try again. > ******************************************************************************* [balance of post deleted] Okay, let's address the article. First, bnefore we look at the article let's look at the person who wrote and published it and see WHY it may have been done. Understanding the resons behind the article will help us understand what was really being said in the article. Who is DEC PRO? Who are DEC PROs customers? Who has what to gain by publishing this article? DEC PRO is a "rag" that is *GIVEN AWAY FREE* to anyone who requests it. These people are not customers, as they are not paying for any services. These people are like T.V. viewers. They are referred to as a pasive audience. So, who are the "customers of DEC PRO"? The people who pay for it. The advertisers. These advertisers are generally "third party providers" of DEC based products. They are paying money to get their information into your hands. DEC PRO is not the "Consumer Reports" of Digital Computing. They have an active interest in further the positions of their customer base. Now, we know who DEC PRO serves. Let us look at "why" this article may have been written. For years (as stated in the article) DEXPO (the third party trade show) has tried to get into a closer relationship with DECUS. Specifically they have tried to connect thier sales show to the DECUS symposia. They have tried to co-locate with the symposia and have made every attempt at drawing symposia attendees from the symposia to their parade of sales pitches. In order to "be above" this type of commercialization, DECUS has stuck to its simple rule that all DECUS events and services shall be non-commercialized. That we shall show no vendor any "special" privs. In Las Vegas DEXPO did not fare well. There were many vendors who felt that they didn't get what they were prommised (either in sales leads or in attendance). These vendors are upset. These vendors are also DEC PROs customers. Now, if you go back and re-read the article from this point of view, you can see the publisher championing the cause of his customers. You can see that over half the paragrahs in the article mention how well the DECUS member would be served by connecting DEXPO and DECUS. How third party vendors are so important to the DECUS attendee. You will see that the drive of the article is to put pressure on DECUS to drop its non-commercialism policy and to get in bed with the vendors. This is not the direction that *I* want to see decus go. DECUS to me has always been the "Consumer Reports" of DEC Computing. It has been unbiased and uninfluenced by anyone. Sessions at symposia are put on by vendors, but those sessions *cannot* be sales pitches. Those sessions *must* have technical merit. They have to be informational, not just pushes to purchase a product. I know because I have had the responsibility of seeing to it that the L&T sessions on CASE are not sales pitches. I have been fortunate enough to have had people like Nick Wybolt (from CADRE) and Barabara Bursack (another vendor) give talks to us on the underlying concepts of CASE, not on their companies products. I have also seen companies where they walked the fine line, but overall provided technical information to a community that wanted it. Any vendor who wants to talk at a DECUS Symposia is welcome to. They must only follow the rules that *all* people who talk must follow. They must not be commercial in their presentation. When I was responsible for overseeing the presentations on CASE, I would have okayed a tutorial in Yourdon Methods by any vendor that wanted to give one. The only vendor interested in teaching "how to use the CASE toolset (methodology)" was DEC. Once again, I point to DEC PRO and have to ask "what do *you* gain by this?" The answer is clear. They are attempting to get the DECUS membership to preasure the DECUS leadership to get into bed with the DEC PRO customers. As long as I have any voice in DECUS (if I ever had any to begin with :-) ) I will use that voice to *not* ever let this happen. DECUS is not a closed society. It is open to everyone. The basic rule is that you cannot "sell" within the organization. That rule is one of the cornerstones that makes DECUS what it is. I feel that DEC PROs underhanded attempt to try to get this "rule" removed, by claiming to be the voice of the "people" is deceitful. DEC PRO is not the readers magazine, it is the advertisers. Don't be sucked into the vendors vapid wishes. Answers: > 1. Why does DECUS cost so much? Compared to what? DECUS membership is *FREE*. DECUS products cost money, but to be a LUG member all you have to do is show up. To get a copy of the SIG tapes, all you have to do is go to the LUG Librarian. Symposia do cost money, but where else can you get 2000 hours of available education for about $500.00? > 2. Why does DECUS choose locations that ignore the geography of the DEC > population? House and feed 6000+ attendees. Have rooms as small as 20 person size and as large as 1500. Okay DEC PRO. You name the cities that can hold this type of Symposia. > 3. Why is it so hard to go to both DECUS and DEXPO? Who cares? I attend DECUS (as do most of the people I go with) to get educated. If I want to hear sales pitches, I can go to DEXPO. Cripes I only spend 1 hour in DECs display area, and that is co-located with the symposia. > 4. When they need answers, why don't most DEC users get them from DECUS? They don't? Hmmm, I get calls on the L&T masters list. I get e-mail from the net, and I get questions on DECUServe. Last I checked there are answers there to be had. Where do *you* think DEC users get their answers? From your advertisers? > 5. Why is DECUS attendance so poor? Compared to what? The symposia are well attended. LUGs are well attended (some have better attendance than others). The traveling road show of seminars are well attended. The pre-symposia seminars are well attended (so well that DECUS has had to add another day of them). Don't you mean to ask why DEXPO attendance is so poor? > 6. Is DECUS interested in the DEC community or just its own ingrown leadership? As a member of "leadership" I can only speak for myself. My interest is in the community, of which I am a member. I don't have anything to sell the other members, just my knowledge that I give for free. Where is you self interest? > 7. How much influence does DEC have on DECUS? None on me personally. I make my sugestions and comments without caring who I offend at DEC. I am thier customer and they are supposed to be responding to my needs, not the other way around. > 8. Is DECUS necessary for the DEC community? Is the DEC community necessary > for DECUS? To the first question, NO (or a qualified yes). To the second, YES. A DEC user has no "need" for DECUs, but there are many gains that come from involvement with the rest of the users. Questions get answered, sessions get given, products and methodologies get discussed. This is the heart of DECUS. DECUS is not some "commercial enterprise" that takes and doesn't give. We are all DEC users. Users who care about the state of the art and DECs involvement. We have chosen our platform (DEC) and we have decided to share with one another so that we all benefit. > 9. Why isn't DECUS a must for decision-makers in the DEC market? Could you please define who these "decision-makers" are? This is like me asking why the writers in DEC PRO are unable to ever write anything "bad" about the products that they review (the same ones that are advertised in the adjoining pages to the glowing reviews). > 10. What will DECUS do to improve? DECUS is always loooking at ways to better meet the needs of the "user community". There are always new ideas and new concepts. DECUServe was started to meet some perceived needs, and it has met the needs of many DECUS members. In the future there will be new services and products. I don't know what the future of DECUS may be, but it is bright. Now my question. What can DEC PRO do to better meet the DECUS members needs? Answer: Start by being honest with us. Admit that it is in your self interest to represent the views of your advertisers. Admit that you are not there as a service to the reader, but that your customers, the advertisers, pay your salary to represent their best interests. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The above has been a personal opinion. It is not the view of DECUS as a society, or the views of the L&T SIG or UI UIG. It is also not the view of MDC or DAC (my employer). - J.M. Ivler jmi@dac.mdcbbs.com or ivler@eisner.decus.org --------------------------------------------------------------------------------