The BBQ Topic for 2000:
INFLUENCING HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE FOR MUSIC ON COMPUTERS OVER THE NEXT 5 YEARS

The Fifth Annual Texas Interactive Music Conference and BBQ occurred on October 19th-22nd of this year. Fifty of the brightest minds in the computer industry once again traded the comforts and chaos of corporate America to converge on a secluded 360-acre ranch in Texas to bond and focus, attain the correct state of mind, and then with fierce determination discuss, argue, debate, brainstorm, and continue their 4-year streak of altering history. Again, the topic was "Influencing Hardware and Software for Music on Computers over the next 5 years."

Shunning neckties, corporate logos and fluorescent lights as detrimental to the group thinking processes, BBQ's approach has always been unlike that of any other event in the industry-and it has paid off. The record of BBQ is unmatched by any other conference. Attendees have consistently emerged with satisfaction at having solved seemingly impossible problems, and with a sense that they might at least begin to solve their biggest remaining issues with the tools, concepts, and business alliances made available to them by the unique environment of BBQ.

This report contains the results of that meeting. While, like everything else about the conference, it may appear unconventional at first glance, this report bears close examination.

--On more than one occasion, what appeared at first to be rifts in the industry became alliances at BBQ. Where there were two competing standards forming, BBQ attendees were able to either make plans to merge the two standards or create agreeable ways for developers and end-users to not have to support both standards.

--Several industry working groups of significant impact have been formed at BBQ.

--Several alliances formed at BBQ have created influential companies and standards groups, and have given welcome changes in direction to some of our major corporations.

--Letters of thanks have been received from many companies, notably Microsoft and Intel, who made use of the group's input (the BBQ report) to create their own powerful audio standards.

Four years have elapsed since the first Project Bar-B-Q, and the staff and attendees found themselves entering the crucial 5th year to which their topic statement refers. When reading this report, it might be helpful to bear in mind the mental state of the attendees, who were encouraged to evaluate their performance over the past, with questions such as, "Are the results of BBQ's influence consistently positive? Are they influencing the industry enough, too little, or even too much? Are we seeing the things we wanted to see that first year?"

The staff and attendees of BBQ hope that the work they have done this year can have a continuing positive effect on the industry through this document.

EXECUTIVE CHAIR:
George Sanger;
The Fat Man

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR:
Teresa Avallone;
CEO
Avallone Media Group

Linda Law;
Vice President
Fat Labs, Inc.

David Battino;
Technology Editor
Revolution Magazine

Tom White;
President
MMA

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select a section:  1. Introduction  2. Speakers  3. Executive Summary  
4. The Appliantology Group  5. The Multichannel Audio Working Group  
6. The Intellectual Property - Business Models To Save Your Soul Group 
7. The General Interactive Audio Group   8. Schedule & Sponsors