Hi Lynn,
I do not want to talk you out of your frustration, it is widely shared.
I would like to let you know, however, that Dan Glenn is a volunteer member
of PTC/User (he's recently, well, in conference-time anyhow, changed jobs
so I don't remember where he is, but it is NOT and has never been PTC) and
along with several other key volunteers throughout the PTC/User
organization made a concerted and meaningful effort to improve the presence
and placement of Arbortext topics, PTC/Arbortext staff, and vendors between
2008 and 2011 or so.
All of the work that Dan and others in PTC/User put into responding to an
ad-hoc team of Arbortexters from this list was lost, however, when PTC/User
decided it was unfeasible to continue to manage the annual conference.
There is way too much that went into that decision and I am certain I am
not aware of even a significant portion of it, but suffice to say that
between changes to the finances of conferences and age-old volunteer
organization dynamics ... it collapsed partially under the weight of its
own success. Once in the hands of the PTC marketing/business development
team, it became what it is now ... Arbortext-free.
Dan,
I do think it would be wise for PTC/User to carefully consider the changes
PTC has made to the conference while crafting communications that include
members who are primarily (or exclusively) Arbortext-only. There is no more
Arbortext content at the main show. Although the parallel Services
conference does reference Arbortext products and capabilities it is
decisively NOT from a developer, administrator, user point-of-view. (I am
certain that every Arbortext member of PTC/User is from one of those
now-exlcuded classes.) And, finally, this year, they have eliminated
support for even the Arbortext TCs.
All of us,
Whether adepters (the list) and Adepters (the members) can/should continue
under the umbrella of PTC/User seems like a sad but necessary question to
address.
