RE: Stuart strikes again - history is altered!

I served on the board for 2 years. I volunteered initially because JJ at Informix training suggested I should. I knew I would never get elected so tossed my name in the hat. I was more than surprised When I was elected. But I accepted the position and ran again the following 2 elections Because I LIKE Informix...and want Informix jobs to be available for us...and I wanted to Do what I could to help that along. I am not sure if my efforts at sending login information To users and cleaning up the server and cornering IBM folks and trying to make them understand Our concerns did a damn bit of good, but that is what I was after. I gained a lot. I got to know many of you, and have those resources at my disposal. I was drug all over the globe for conferences and stuff (I am not real fond of wedging my fat butt In a narrow plane seat for long hours at a stretch). And I guess it looks good on a resume....not that I care about that. I could babble on about the sponsorship program, et al. But I think the IIUG is a partner of IBM, and Perhaps is influenced from time to time by them, but when there is a hot user or partner issue, the Board members beat on IBM and nag the snot out of them about it...and isn't that what we want them to do? (And Stuart can NAG with the best of them, believe me. :) ) As a member I am relatively happy with the IIUG...and the board...and if they piss me off, I Can email or call several board members, give them an earful, and they will listen...and Share with each other and IBM. IBM...well they make their own choices, but they do appear to at least listen and consider What we say at some levels. Thanks. S -- Sam Gentsch office (706)634-3612 cell (706)289-6710 -----Original Message----- From: informix-list-bounces@iiug.org [mailto:informix-list-bounces@iiug.org] On Behalf Of Jean Georges Perrin Sent: Friday, May 19, 2006 4:59 PM To: informix-list@iiug.org Subject: RE: Stuart strikes again - history is altered! Every Board member had his motivations for joining the Board, either official motivations or his own agenda; anyway, he/she gives an awful lot of time and it might be a lot cheaper to get it by buying it... Do we need IBM's money to support our programmes? Yes, we do. Did we seek other sources of revenue? Yes, we did and succeeded. Can we live without IBM? We could but we do not want to. Are we doing a poor job? It's up to you, but mails from real people, and people we physically meet say otherwise. Are we IBM's fiends or henchmen? I don't think IBM would like us to be! And we are not! Are we friends with IBM? There are a few people within IBM I consider friends and hope they have the sam feelings for me. I don't have IBM shares, I run a Dell, I use Eclipse (thanks Bernie!), I love Java and kind of start dating with PHP and most of my fellows Board member live exactly the same with or without IBM. Is Stuart lying? I have worked with him for quite some years now, and I can tell you he is not a lier. He likes to tell stories, and despite some of them are hard to believe, you finally find out that they are true after all! He is an incredible guy, with a nature you either like or dislike, a nature that brings him to so many places and so many different situations that he actually is in the heart of a lot of things and if you are one of his friend, he's the kind of guys that tells you these stories. Is Stuart inaccurate in some of his sayings or writings? A lot of Europeans make fun about the US, but before juding someone, in the US, you must make proof he's guilty and I've seen nothing like that here. And about inaccuracy, simply, who is not? Do you want to know my motivations for being 4 years on the board? Well, I have no desire telling you. jgp > -----Original Message----- > From: informix-list-bounces@iiug.org > [mailto:informix-list-bounces@iiug.org] On Behalf Of Double Echo > Sent: Friday, May 19, 2006 19:23 > To: informix-list@iiug.org > Subject: Re: Stuart strikes again - history is altered! > > malcolm weallans wrote: > > I resent the infernece that I ever made a penny off of the IIUG. I > > should be very careful if I were you making such allegations. > > > > I never alleged or inferred you or anyone made a penny off the IIUG. > Read what I said a bit more carefully. It's in standard English. > I would be > surprised and a bit confused why you would not want something out of > it, but it doesn't mean you got cash for your time. And so what if > you did, who cares. The point I made, lost again, was that there is > nothing wrong with that, but it does raise eyebrows from people __if__ > and __where__ the reward is coming from. We're all motivated by > something, I could not possibly believe you would work for nothing, so > the reward could be in many forms, not just cash. The nexis to this > whole argument is that the IIUG was an independent body, but once > Informix supplied financing, and employees to the board, the > independence was lost, the objectivity tainted, and the credibility in > the toilet. I hope not to belabor this point again, try to see it > from outside the IIUG box, and it will become crystal clear. > > I will most likely not respond to this thread further, obviously you > are not able to see my point, and further discussion on it is > impossible. I _was_ hoping to see someone suggest a financing model > for the IIUG that would help them out and give them more credibility > but obviously you folks are taking this way too personal. Bye now! > > > > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: informix-list-bounces@iiug.org > [mailto:informix-list-bounces@iiug.org] > > On Behalf Of Double Echo > > Sent: 19 May 2006 13:19 > > To: informix-list@iiug.org > > Subject: Re: Stuart strikes again - history is altered! > > > > > > Malcolm, > > > > Obviously it's a touchy subject, but you don't have to be > ashamed of making > > a little gain off of the IIUG. I did say, for what it's > worth, just my .02, > > nothing wrong with that. What's the issue? It's all about > the image, the > > presentation, if it looks like what it is, then maybe > that's what it is. We > > live in capitalistic societies, and people are ambitious. > No big deal. But > > consider the obvious picture you paint in peoples' minds > when they see what > > is happening--or what happened. > > > > You discovered your folly taking money from Informix, and > thusly tainting > > and poisoning your position. Yes, it costs money to run an > organization, > > but you can't have a user group with pure intentions taking > money from the > > very company that you are supposedly representing users > for. Does that make > > sense to you? If you really wanted to, you could have > found other ways to > > fund your situation. Again, not blaming you for the way > things have gone, > > the point is that if your organization takes money, people > will question > > your motives when they discover where the money is coming > from. Like I said > > you can't make a pig something el