IT professionals seem to gather information differently in the current era, making computer user groups scramble to stay profitable and vital. One of the oldest groups in the 3000’s community, as well as in HP circles, shutters its doors this month when the HP Computer User Association closes up shop in the UK. The HPCUA had seen declining participation in user events, like many user groups, as customers found other places to enlighten themselves on the HP computer line — although HPCUA had a rich tradition of bringing the best out of the European marketplace’s technical experts at its shows produced with other European user group partners. Managing director Peter Bradley reported that four of the group’s staff were let go at the end of June, including himself, and a meeting with the HPCUA creditors in mid-August would put the organization offline for good. Its Web site was failing to respond as we went to press. Had cash flow not caught up with HPCUA, the 3000 might have provided a new opportunity for one of the oldest HP-specific user groups in the world.

“Our Board decided in mid-June that the game was up for HPCUA,” Bradley said at the end of last month, “and the formal winding-up meeting is to be held in a couple of weeks. User groups are finding it hard to survive in the current climate, and things had certainly been very difficult for HPCUA in the last few years. Four of us were made redundant on June 30. It's the end of an era — we were the last user group outside the US with a paid staff.” Bradley surmised that the same fallout from the HP merger that made the HPCUA mission more difficult might continue to grind at Interex, now the last remaining HP user group with any independence from the vendor.

“For us, the merger with Compaq has put stresses on the relationship with “new” HP and the presence of other user groups from “old” Compaq has complicated things,” Bradley said. “We had a couple of good projects going which might have helped pull us through. Ironically, one of them was an HP e3000 Forum, which Emmet Hayes got off the ground, signing up users and partners, creating a Web site, planning meetings. With HPCUA's departure from the scene, there is now no expertise — and little enthusiasm from new HP UK — for anybody catering to the HP 3000 community.”

Whether the HPCUA’s demise represents an opening for some other body to do that catering remains to be seen, but no one has yet stepped up to fill the void in the UK. HP’s been trying to consolidate its support of user groups, leading to the joint effort at HP World this month. The HPCUA user group had its heyday in the late 1980s and 1990s, when the lack of an Internet made in-person conferences one of the best ways to get educated about HP’s computer platforms. We enjoyed meetings at the seashore in Brighton and at the cradle of the Industrial Revolution as guests of the gracious group, and found the HPCUA’s HP User magazine a well-edited read. Bradley, and his cohorts at the group, will be missed in the community. “It’s another sad day for HP 3000 users in the UK,” said 3000 customer John Dunlop, who alerted 3000 newsgroup readers of the news. "The HPCUA has always done its best to host worthwhile events and to provide access to HP 3000 resources in the UK.”