There's kind of a fun Q&A going on right now between the OAUG Hyperion SIG board members and the audience. Allow me to paraphrase as best I can.

How many members are there in the Hyperion SIG?
203.

How many would you like to have?
500-1000. The problem is that [the Hyperion SIG] can't directly ask people to join the SIG per the OAUG rules.

That seems like a strange rule. You also mentioned that OAUG limits how many can be on a webcast to 25. What actual advantages are there to the Hyperion SIG being a part of OAUG?
They're actually getting the software upgraded to handle more people and they let us post them on-line in the meantime so people can download them. Those are two advantages right there. [Editor's Note: I cry foul with that answer, because those aren't advantages to OAUG, but rather how they're going to solve some of their shortcomings.]

Are the Hyperion User Groups going way and if so, why isn't Hyperion SIG being touted as the replacement for them?
[Editor's Note: I can't do justice to the debate that occurred around this question. Suffice to say that no one has a good answer from OAUG Hyperion SIG and the entire room is confused about what the future state is.]

When will elections be held since the current board seems to have not been elected?
The bi-laws aren't finalized yet, but should be by Spring of 2009. We'll have elections for some of our 5 board members in 2009 at OpenWorld, but we'll need to stagger them. [Editor's Note: the current board and domain leads are very much dominated by partners. I see a credibility issue arising if they don't get a better balance of clients and partners on the board. I'm not sure this can wait until 2009.]

The meeting is now breaking up as the attendees wander clear across the convention center to a reception sponsored by 5 partners (most of whom don't even have booths at COLLABORATE 08, but I digress).

I just finished explaining how to find all the Hyperion presentations at the conference. There are 98, but since they're spread across so many different schedules, it's impossible to find a complete list. Kristin Newman introduced me by plugging all 3 of my books, which was very nice. After reviewing the layout of the convention and walking everyone through all 98 presentations in less than 15 minutes, I concluded with a slide about my 10 presentations. If you want copies of any of the 10 presentations, send an e-mail to info@interrel.com. Here's the complete list:

April 14

• 9:15 AM, Korbel 1A, How Essbase Thinks
• 1:00 PM, Korbel 1A, Hyperion Planning and Essbase at Pearson
• 2:15 PM, 113, Financial Reporting for Mere Mortals

April 15

• 11:00 AM, Korbel 1A, Essbase for Non-Financial Applications Advertising and Marketing Analysis
• 3:30 PM, Korbel 1A, Real World Optimization: Hyperion Essbase
• 4:45 PM, Korbel 1A, The Power of 64-bit Essbase

April 16

• 9:45 AM, Korbel 1A, Hyperion Calc Scripts for Mere Mortals
• 11:00 AM, 103, Ask an Essbase Guru
• 11:00 AM, 113, Tips, Tricks and Best Practices for Planning

April 17

• 11:00 AM, 201, Best Practices in Budgeting and Forecasting

There's an obvious conflict at 11AM on April 16 since I'm giving a Hyperion Planning tips and tricks presentation while simultaneously chairing an "Ask a Guru" panel. Something's got to change about that.

I'm now listening to Ray Payne who's the guy from OAUG that tries to convince people/groups to join OAUG. From the way he's talking, it seems that it's a foregone conclusion that the regional HUGs (Hyperion User Groups) are disbanding. That's probably a subject for a blog entry in and of itself.

Ray's main point about joining OAUG is that OAUG is big and bigger means "carries more weight with Oracle." He also mentioned something about a big knowledge base that OAUG is starting called the "OAUG Knowledge Factory." I was going to ask about the cost for a company to join OAUG, but Ray just concluded his presentation by not taking any questions. That's too bad because I heard that far from free (like the regional HUGs), it actually costs $395 to join OAUG and that's per year.

The guy next to me just saw me typing "$395/year" and corrected me. He says it's $595 per year (thanks, Guy Watching Over My Shoulder). Almost $600 per year for advocacy? There must be more advantages than he listed for all that money. Did I mention that the regional HUGs don't normally charge any dues whatsoever?

I'm at the OAUG Hyperion SIG. Fred Richards is giving a presentation on Oracle's vision for EPM. Nothing that I haven't seen before for the most part. The most interesting tidbit is that the "9.5" name for the next Hyperion release seems to be dead. Fred keeps referring to it as "Kennedy" which has been the code name for a while. Wait a second: on the overhead is a slide referring to the new Hyperion version as 11.1.1. He's now saying that the version may change. Well until you hear differently, I guess start referring to Oracle Hyperion 11.1.1.

I'm in the air somewhere between Dallas and Denver. The plane seems to be traveling in a Northwesterly direction and the MD-80 seems to be staying in the air remarkably well. In all seriousness, I actually respect American Airlines for grounding their planes before the FAA forced them to. I'm putting together my presentation for the OAUG Hyperion SIG. I'm currently trying to circle all the rooms at the Denver Convention Center that are hosting Hyperion sessions. There seems to be no order to the rooms whatsoever.