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~ Board of Directors ~Each members' name is an email hyper-link to them. Please feel free to contact them if you have any questions or concerns.
Birket met his first HP3000 in 1974, 3 years before founding MBFoster Associates Limited as a consulting company. Birket was influential in the early years of several companies Quasar (became Cognos), Cole & Van Sickle (became Protos), and The Type-ahead Engine company (became Telamon). He has been involved with HP User shows since 1981. His company became a reseller for various utility software products. Reselling PC2622 (now Reflection) lead to a need to extract data for spreadsheet. Birket found such a product became a reseller and a member of the design team. In 1989 MBFoster purchased the DataExpress product from IMACS plus the assets and offices, and employees in Seattle. In 1992 MBFoster introduced the ODBCLink driver as part of the DataExpress product, and in 1996 licensed a Special Edition to HP (ODBCLink/SE). Birket is the chair of SIGSoftVend and the owner of M.B. Foster Associates Limited.
John Wolff is Vice President/CIO of LAACO, Ltd., which owns and operates Self Storage properties and private clubs in the south-western US. He has directed development of LAACO's custom software on various HP3000's since 1982 for its private club business. LAACO continues to enhance its software and will homestead on the HP3000 for many years to come. John is a dedicated supporter of the HP3000/MPE/IMAGE and believes this remarkable platform still has a future to be fulfilled. He previously worked for HP in the software development lab of the Data Systems Division (pre-CSY) in Cupertino from 1968 thru 1974, when the HP3000 was being conceived. developed and introduced.
My initial experience with the HP3000 was in 1981 in college. Since then I have been an operator, programmer and system manager on many, many different system for multiple companies. I was elected to chair SIG SysMan in 1998 and became co-chair of SIG MPE in 2002.
I have over 23 years of experience with MPE, both the classic and 'iX' versions. I have been a member of Interex's MPEForum and chair of Interex's HAForum. During my chairmanship of the HAForum, we always maintained a positive relationship with HP's HA team for MPE in Cupertino. Additionally, I have been a frequent contributor to the HP3000-L, speaker on behalf of MPE related subjects and topics at HPWorld, and currently ranked # 2 on HP's ITRC MPE Forum.
I have been an active but at most times quiet member of the HP3000 community since 1975 and have a solid belief in the reliability the HP3000/MPE platform for the future. My first exposure to the 3000 was at an HP regional office, 2 Choke Cherry Rd, Rockville Md. in 1975. I have worked almost my entire working life on the 3000 (other platforms too) and am completely committed to the continuation of MPE after HP leaves the marketplace. I believe my best contribution to MPE will be as an advocate traveling to various customers helping them to see the solid business case for their continued use and support of MPE and for OpenMPE to become the support organization for MPE post-HP. OpenMPE needs someone to wear out the shoe leather and sell MPE/OpenMPE as a viable and lower cost alternative to migration, or as an insurance policy to extend the project timelines of those unable to migrate before the end of 2006. Since I telecommute 100% I will commit myself with the assistance of OpenMPE to making the business case for the continued support of MPE and OpenMPE into the future. HP needs to see this year that OpenMPE can operate as a viable business with the support of the community. With that support we can show HP that MPE will be in good hands when HP leaves the market and for many years ahead.
Tracy's first encounter with a computer was while serving in the U.S. Navy as a Cryptologic Technician in 1970's, learning how to code lighted octal displays so the system could boot and access the "drum" drive. His first encounter with the HP3000 was in 1984 at Hughes Aircraft Company as an Operator and it has been a love-affair ever since. He earned a Bachelors in Geography (of all things) in 1985 and moved on to application programming in Powerhouse. He also stayed in the U.S. Naval Reserve and retired after thirty years (and one month) in 2006. But his true calling is still System Operations and Management. Tracy has managed several HP3000 sites over the years, primarily in a manufacturing environment using MANMAN. As a result, he has learned the fine art of orchestrating varying 3rd party applications to work together on the HP. He can often be found on the HP3000-L list server offering advice on just about any topic. He is quite enthusiastic about the prospects for OpenMPE and foresees a viable future for the MPE operating system past 2008 ... and beyond!
My first experience with Hewlett-Packard computers was in 1974 on RTE-II and RTE-III systems used in an aerospace company, designing hardware and software for various products. Over the years I went on to use all the RTE systems, participating as an HP employee and consultant in the design of the most modern members of the product line. During my time at HP, I was a user of various MPE systems and worked closely with my peers to create factory control systems with networks of MPE and RTE machines. I became involved in Interex in 1988, eventually serving on the board of directors of that organization. My current employer manufactures replacements for Data General, DEC, and HP minicomputers, so I occasionally find myself still working with RTE-II systems thirty years later. |
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Last Updated: 19th April 2008 |
