Warpstock 98 Countdown!

September has arrived, the kids are back in school, and the Warpstock '98 Team is continuing to put together this year's celebration of OS/2. It's only a little more than a month away!

If you haven't visited the Web site athttp://www.warpstock.org lately, it's time to do so: we have a new look, a new logo, and most importantly, updated vendors and presentations.

Presentations Confirmed

Check out the new lists of Presentations, Events and Software Demonstrations http://www.warpstock.org/sched.html. We are updating these items as we gather information; it's been changing almost daily.

If you don't see your company, product or topic presented, we may be missing information! Just use our on-line forms to register for a software or speaker presentation for your company or yourself.

More Presentations Wanted

While we have plenty of presentations scheduled, there's always room for more. OS/2 users are anxious to learn *everything* about the operating system, after all, and the context in which OS/2 is used. If you have wisdom to share about any of the following topic areas, we'd love to hear about it.

* Software development

* Small business computing

* Internet connectivity

* IBM's products and perspectives

* Home user issues

* OS/2 interaction with the community

* OS/2 architecture and features

* Extending OS/2 applications

Remember, Warpstock is all about sharing our knowledge. You don't have to be a wizard on the topic (though we'd never turn one down), but if you've accumulated knowledge worth sharing -- or worth exploring together -- then you're probably a good candidate for speaking. Give our web page athttp://www.warpstock.org/98/exspeak.html a visit.

Plus, software vendors have a great opportunity to demonstrate their applications at Warpstock. We hope to have continuous demonstrations of freeware, shareware, and commercial applications throughout the weekend. Just surf over to the sign-up form at

http://www.warpstock.org/98/present_software.html

and sign up! It's that easy!

While Warpstock isn't an IBM event -- not by any stretch of the imagination! -- we welcome IBM employees (and ex-employees) who are interested in talking about the company's directions, OS/2-related products, and "how it works" subjects. While the Warpstock Team is well connected, we know that many you have a lot of contacts inside the company. We urge you to encourage any IBMers you know to help out as presenters... and hey, just to attend. IBM staff who attended Warpstock last year were recharged, just as were all of us customers. Arguably, IBM's not especially good at communicating inside the company about non-IBM events, so we can't be sure how well the "Warpstock word" has gotten out, or, in. Anything you can do to let IBMers know about the event will be much appreciated, especially by those IBMers.

End of $99 Room rate at Wyndham Northwest

I want to thank everyone that has booked their rooms at the Wyndham Northwest. You have made it possible for Warpstock to meet its budget. As of September 1, and there are now less than 40 rooms left at the incredible Warpstock $99 a night rate left. This $99 rate will close out on September 16th, and after that the Wyndham will accept the room rate at their discretion. Based on their current actions of no longer giving the rate for extra nights, we believe that they will be charging their standard rate schedule. If you find that they are quoting $189 or some such figure, you can still get a somewhat discounted rate if you are a AAA member, they do have a discounted weekend rate; AARP members can also get a discount.

Job Fair

Looking for a new job? Warpstock may be able to help you! We are currently in negotiation with several recruiters who are looking for OS/2 people, and we hope to set aside an area for them to do interviews. Bring your resume! If we are unable to reach a final terms with these recruiters and companies, we will collect resumes anyway and see if we can set up a searchable OS/2 database on one of the web sites.

Special Mentions

SCOUG deserves a special mention. Not only was SCOUG a early financial backer of Warpstock, and a vendor at Warpstock; they have also been a great advertiser of Warpstock with both their Webfoot and Peter Skye's interview that was just published on the web http://www.scoug.com/os24u/1998/scoug809.2.warped.html. I have never been called a visionary before. I am proud to wear the SCOUG polo shirt at my office and when I go to a OS/2 meeting. I know that I will be purchasing a new one this year.

Hethmon Brothers Software (http://www.hethmon.com/) also deserves a special mention. Hethmon Bros. purchased advertising on Warpcast for the month of August, which was almost all about Warpstock. Paul Hethmon, last year's Warpstock Chair, continues to host our email site, is on the Warpstock Executive Board, and has been great help to Warpstock'98. He and his company are truly what Warpstock is about -- helping the OS/2 Community.

Final Words

I personally, want to thank everyone who has helped us bring this new Warpstock together in such a timely fashion. It has been a real challenge for me to work with as far-flung a group as the current Warpstock 98 Team. I think that we have done a great job, considering that we have had only 3 months to do it in. Some people have questioned if this is the same Warpstock as last year. When I look at the devotion that the people helping us put this together, I am absolutely amazed. Warpstock still has the same Heart as last year. This year we are in a lovely hotel, we will have beautiful trade booths and we will look less like a 'computer flea market' than last year's Warpstock.

I know that I am looking forward to seeing all of you at Warpstock. I think that we will have some surprises for you, I know that you will find lots of new things to see, to think about and to take home with you.

Stan Sidlov Event Chair
http://www.warpstock.org
Are YOU going to Warpstock'98?
Oct 17-18, 1998 Chicago, IL.