May 93 - Letter from Conference chair
Letter from Conference chair
Bob Hablutzel
My friends -
MADACon 1993 has come and gone, but as we look back on the year I am convinced that
it will be remembered as the place to be for first sneaks at upcoming technology. The
show opened with a stunning presentation of SK8, a new ATG language project,
continued with Newton, Pink and OLE sneaks, and didn't stop until our own Jeff Alger
had laid out the path for the future.We also saw up and coming products such as
Component Workshop, Bedrock, OOPC, and Beta. The conference may not have made our
choices clear, but it did present a clear picture that the choices are improving rapidly.
Many of you have contacted me, as conference chair, and thanked me for the quality of
the conference. This is greatly appreciated. However, please do not overlook the
outstanding contributions of Steve Mann, MADA manager, who did a fantastic job of
ensuring that the conference came together. Without his work, and the able assistance
of Patricia McCauley, the conference would not have existed at all.
The keystone of MADA, to my mind, is the community spirit that exists in the
organization. The people at the conference are not only peers, but also friends and
family. Everyone from the newest neophyte to luminaries such as Mike Potel and Adele
Goldberg are welcomed and treated with respect. Even Steve Sinofksy, a card carrying
Microsoft representative, was received without the normal Microsoft bigotry. This is
as it should be, as we are going to learn only by listening to each other.
Unfortunately there was one glaring lapse in this community feeling, as one vendor
used totally inapproriate naked lady slides to illustrate, of all things, the concept of
optional arguments. Please rest assured that we at MADA neither knew about, nor
condoned, this action. We are taking steps to help ensure that nothing like this happens
again. Our organization, and indeed our world, is too small to allow this sort of
exploitation to continue.
Now is the time to turn to next year. As chairman of the board of MADA, and as next
years conference chair, I look forward to your input on both the conference and on the
organization in general. Please feel free to contact me at any time and let me know what
is on your mind.
I can be reached at:
Bob Hablutzel
Hablutzel Consulting
606 Asbury
Evanston, IL 60202
Phone: 708 328 0130
Fax: 708 328 2417
AppleLink: B.HABLUTZEL