Interex, the user group for Hewlett-Packard's systems customers, has disbanded and canceled next month's HP World show in San Francisco.
Interex officials on its Web site Monday cited financial reasons for shutting down, calling the decision "unavoidable." The 31-year-old organization had about 100,000 members.
"It is with great sadness that, after 31 years, we have found it financially necessary to close the doors at Interex," said the message on the site. "We dearly wish that we could have continued supporting your needs, but it was unavoidable."
The staff was laid off last week, and the group's various services and publications shut down.
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The cancellation of HP World comes after Hewlett-Packard Co. officials last year said they intended to host a show of their own, and tried to bring the major user groups together to back it. Another user group, Encompass, agreed to host a show with HP, but Interex decided to continue with its HP World conference.
HP, with Encompass, is holding its HP Technology Forum 2005 in New Orleans in September.
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Anne Livermore, executive vice president of HP's Technology Solutions Group, and Shane Robison, executive vice president and chief strategy and technology officer, will provide keynote speeches for the event. Former astronaut and U.S. Senator John Glenn also will speak at the four-day event.
The news of HP World's demise comes amid speculation that officials with HP, of Palo Alto, Calif., this week will announce thousands of layoffs as part of new CEO Mark Hurd's plans to bring the company's expenses in line with those of major competitors, in particular Dell Inc.
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