Now there's to be a Fall Developer's Conference??

To further muddy the waters in what appears to be a major feud between Oracle and IOUG-A, I recently received a letter from Polly Sumner, who heads the Business Alliance Programme, and it seems to imply that Oracle is thinking about a Fall Developer Conference, or perhaps that there will be a developer track at OOW.

The letter also states that the BAP folks will NOT be participating at IOUW (or at least not with any assistance from Oracle), and it isn't clear to me from this letter whether Oracle will even exhibit at IOUW.

Further, OOW doesn't appear to be aimed at 3rd party vendors OTHER than those in BAP.

I'm in a real quandary as to which of the two fall shows I will go to, I CANNOT afford the time to do both. If IOUW has no major Oracle presence, it will not be as good a show. If OOW is going to be nothing but 'canned' Oracle sales pitches, then I don't know that I should have to PAY to attend it!

I'll post the relevant portions of the letter below.

--
Mike Nolan
nolan_at_tssi.com

February 1, 1996

Dear Business Alliance Programme Member:

As you may know, over the last year, Oracle has worked to unify our user
group events around the world under the name Oracle OpenWorld.  The purpose of
Oracle OpenWorld (OOW) is to create a single forum for customers, prospects,
and BAP Partners to meet each other; to see demonstrations of Oracle's 
solutions; to take educational courses to help them better implement
Oracle solutions; and to provide a holistic view of Oracle's diverse product
line and that of our Partners.  There aer Oracle OpenWorld conferences 
scheduled around the world throughout the year, with the major U.S. event
scheduled for Nov 3-8 in San Francisco.

A recent news release sent out by the International Oracle User Group - 
Americas (IOUG-A) regarding the U.S-based International Oracle User Week
(IOUW) may have caused some confusion about the direction of OOW vis-a-vis
IOUW.  Although invited to participate in OOW, the IOUG-A has chosen to
hold an independent Oracle user conference.  As our major investment will
be in OOU, Oracle Corp. will not be hosting the BAP Conference or the
show floor at IOUG-A.

The OOW'96 will include the IOUW and will add the fall Oracle Developer
Conference (ODC) and applications and new media tracks.  We look forward
to seeing you and other Oracle users at this conference.  

[The rest of the letter deals with conference registration information,
exhibiting at OOW, or the BAP Conference, and is not included.]

Sincerely,

Polly Sumner
Vice President
Worldwide Business Alliance