SCOUG OS/2 For You - September 1999

Warp Expo West, the international "Warpfest Of OS/2 Excitement" in sunny California, held court to throngs of happy OS/2 revelers on Saturday as it filled lecture halls, exhibit areas and hallways with an enthusiasm unseen in recent memory. The four lecture halls were often at capacity, the exhibitor area often mobbed.

"We had 20% more guests than anticipated," said Rollin White, Chairman of Warp Expo West. "We obviously underestimated the industry's interest in OS/2 and the number of people who would travel long distances to attend a major OS/2 function."

International guests mingled with local attendees as lecture after lecture poured forth from the auditoriums and seminar rooms.

The roundtable with Peter Coffee of PC Week, Esther Schindler of Sm@rt Reseller and Alan Zeichick of Camden Associates had people talking for the rest of the day, discussing the panelist's comments and sharing their own personal insights.

Jerry Rash began the first of his four OS/2 multimedia lecture periods faced with an overflow crowd. Extra chairs were brought in and the audience spilled out through the doors and into the hallway, listening to his every word and vying for an occasional glimpse of the screen.

When asked during a morning pause how the show was doing for bringing in new business, Jim Williams of IBM replied "We've already made several good contacts. Warp Expo West is about the best show we've been to."

And so it went. Guests poured in from all over the U.S. and from overseas as well, taking in this massive gathering of OS/2 technology, products and information.

Lecturers held impromptu discussions in the hallways. The Warped Jeopardy! game show presentation from Sundial Systems was a combined multimedia extravaganza and stage show delight. Live video feeds were sent around the world over Internet connections. Webfoot, The Duck made an appearance.

Special exhibits lined the walls. Vendor100 was spectacular to watch as WiseManager from Serenity Systems instantly brought up icon after icon of Vendor100 software on every machine during the network bootup. Commercial-grade overhead projectors threw large images onto the auditorium screens. The OS/2 space game Stellar Frontier ran on a bank of machines.

"We've accomplished what we set out to do," continued Rollin White, "and we've again brought OS/2 knowledge and products to the community, to both current users and new users, so that OS/2 will continue to be recognized for what it is - the best desktop operating system in the world today."

Warp Expo West was held last Saturday, September 18, in sunny Southern California. All the info is still at

Admission was free.

Special Credits:

• Rollin White, Chairman (he made it happen)
• Steve Schiffman, Facilities and Networks (he got the building, he got us connected)
• Carla Hanzlik, Web Mistress (she put us on the web)

Sponsored by The Southern California OS/2 User Group.