HP12C 'Forum P.C' and James Briggs

[Keith Midson]

Hi all,
It's been a while since I posted a new thread here. I have a modest HP collection that has been well documented here over the years. In 2009 I acquired a HP12C with "FORUM P.C. LES 10 CHAMPIONS Villard-de-Lans France Avril 1986" written next to the 12C logo. I purchased it from a seller in the UK who didn't know the history of the 12C. I haven't been able to find anything out through online searches either. Photo attached.
I sold the 12C to a collector in USA in around 2012. A few weeks ago a 12C with the same text came up on ebay and I snapped it up. Turns out it's the same calculator - serial number matches. So I asked for the history and it was acquired in an estate.
I have a couple of questions here for the forum:
1. Did anyone know James Briggs? He was a big collector of HP's but I don't think he was active on this forum. I would like to contact his family and pass on my condolences, but haven't been able to find anything in my searches.
2. Does anyone know anything about the history of the 12C? Forum PC? Villard-de-Lans is a small region in the southeast Alps of France. Who were the "10 Champions"? Long shot, but you never know ...
Cheers,
Keith

[Keith Midson]

Some more information to make this as interesting as possible ...

So this little 12C is well travelled: it was manufactured in Brazil in the 10th week of 1986, then was awarded to one of the mysterious "10 champions" in France later in 1986. Somewhere in the next 23 years it found a home in the UK before travelling to Australia to join my collection in 2009. Then it travelled to California around 2012 before heading back to Australia in 2024!

After all that travel it looks as new as it did when it was first made - even the rubber feet on the back are perfectly unmarked!

There are a few examples that I know of where a 12C (or other HP) has been used for some sort of third party marketing. Here's a shot from way back in 2011 when I first owned this beast, along with a similar one with University of Michigan markings:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/keithmidso...7586986282

[dm319]

Amazing story and travels of that machine!

I worked with a James Briggs, but he really didn't seem the sort to collect calculators. He's a doctor in London and you can find him on google.

I'm wondering what kind of champion would be rewarded with a financial calculator? Did their portfolio do especially well?

[AnnoyedOne]

(08-30-2024 12:13 AM)Keith Midson Wrote:  Long shot, but you never know ...

Probably so. Almost 40 years have passed. It is possible that one (or more) of "The 10 Champions" are still alive -- maybe. Or someone remembers them.

My HP-15C and HP-16C have moved countries a few times along with locations within those countries over 4 or so decades. That 12C has "been around" a bit as well. The stories it could tell And amazing that it ended up back in your hands.

A1

[Keith Midson]

(08-30-2024 08:44 AM)dm319 Wrote:  Amazing story and travels of that machine!

I worked with a James Briggs, but he really didn't seem the sort to collect calculators. He's a doctor in London and you can find him on google.

I'm wondering what kind of champion would be rewarded with a financial calculator? Did their portfolio do especially well?

James was a software engineer who worked in California.

That's a good point - being awarded a financial calculator is kind of specific. The 12C is a financial benchmark, but it does require knowledge of RPN also. The key I think is knowing what "Forum P.C." was - I was thinking "Personal Computer", but it is written in French so maybe the initials stand for something else?

[Keith Midson]

I just sent a message to the Villard de Lans municipal offices! Be interesting to see if they are able to shed any light on the award.

[J-F Garnier]

It's hard to find any reference to this event.

I looked in old French revues of this era, and found a single reference to the "6ème Forum PC" event in 1989, see here (in French).
It was usual to nominate the best products in these events: "Les 10 Champions" maybe?
It seems that the 1986 edition took place in Villard de Lans. It's quite close to my current living place actually, and would be interested if someone could find more precise references.

J-F

[Keith Midson]

(08-31-2024 08:47 AM)J-F Garnier Wrote:  I looked in old French revues of this era, and found a single reference to the "6ème Forum PC" event in 1989, see here (in French).
It was usual to nominate the best products in these events: "Les 10 Champions" maybe?
It seems that the 1986 edition took place in Villard de Lans. It's quite close to my current living place actually, and would be interested if someone could find more precise references.
J-F

Oh that is brilliant! Thank you! I was thinking that there must have been 10 of these 12C's produced for the "10 Champions", but it was one of 10 products maybe?

[Maximilian Hohmann]

Hello,

(08-31-2024 09:22 AM)Keith Midson Wrote:  Oh that is brilliant! Thank you! I was thinking that there must have been 10 of these 12C's produced for the "10 Champions", but it was one of 10 products maybe?

Very intersting thread and research effort. It could also be that these HP-12Cs were given as prizes to "10 champions" of a competion or sweepstakes that was held on occasion of this trade fair which "PC Forum" seems to have been. Maybe a computer game contest or a programming contest. In the mid 1980ies I used to go to the german equivalent "Cebit" and there were plenty of these events held on occasion of the fair.
The label on the HP-12C seems to be either stamped on or silkscreened, as if done by one of the many companies that sell promotional items.

Regards
Max

[J-F Garnier]

(08-31-2024 08:47 AM)J-F Garnier Wrote:  I looked in old French revues of this era, and found a single reference to the "6ème Forum PC" event in 1989, see here (in French).
It was usual to nominate the best products in these events: "Les 10 Champions" maybe?
It seems that the 1986 edition took place in Villard de Lans.

The edition 1986 of the "Forum IBM PC" actually took place in Paris, as announced in MicroSystemes 61, Feb. 1986, p. 27 (available here):
"The Palais des Congrès at Porte Maillot in Paris will host the third edition of the 'Forum IBM PC et Compatibles' from February 11 to 14 [1986].
220 exhibitors gathered on 9,000 m2, more than 300 companies represented, 26,000 visitors expected compared to 9,000 last year." (translated by g00gle and me).

This looks much more realistic than a similar international event in such a small village as Villard.
The Villard event may have been just a celebration of the "10 champions". Villard is indeed a very nice place in the Vercors regional nature park.
Still seeking for more information on the Villard's event.

J-F

[Didier Lachieze]

(08-30-2024 12:13 AM)Keith Midson Wrote:  I have a modest HP collection that has been well documented here over the years.

Hi Keith, "modest" is an understatement ! Your collection is top notch and includes rare and beautiful calculators.

To provide a bit of context, Villard de Lans is close to Grenoble which has been an HP site since 1971*. In 1983 a new division was created on this site: the Grenoble Personal Computer Division (GPCD) which ended up being the WW headquarter for the HP Commercial PCs (Vectra, Kayak, Brio) until the merge with Compaq in 2002.

My guess is that the "FORUM P.C. Villard-de-Lans France Avril 1986" refers to an event organized by HP GPCD, likely an internal event or with external partners, where "10 champions" were awarded a dedicated HP-12C. These champions may have been partners or sales people recognized for their results, or HP employees recognized for their contribution.

*HP Grenoble

[HPing]

I bet that convention got some coverage from newspapers and trade journals.

Librarian search tools destroy our internet searches.

A city or university librarian could be very helpful. They will have access to the databases (or can show you how to search). Maybe different databases for newspapers and trade journals (and different databases will have different results).

This search could be done anywhere in the world but I suspect there are some French (or European) databases that are better than the American ones for local French news.

Even if you find articles, there might be photos stored on microfiche!

[Maximilian Hohmann]

Hello,

(08-31-2024 06:24 PM)HPing Wrote:  Even if you find articles, there might be photos stored on microfiche!

When you look at the link posted by J.F.Garnier above you can see that dozens or even hundreds of french computer and games magazines have been digitised and are freely available on the internet. Unfortunately they are not OCRd, so one has to really browse through every single page (they are archived as one pdf file for every page and some of the magazines have over 200 pages per copy :-( clearly a job for someone who is doing his ph.d. in early computer history).

I looked into five of these magazines, of each the volumes of january, february and march 1986, if I could find an announcement of this venue. Both in the text part and the advertisements. And I looked into the may issue to see if there is an article about the PC forum held in April. Nothing. BTW: The French Wikipedia article on Villard-le-Lans is incredible. I wouldn‘t have thought that so much could be researched and written about a village of less than 5000 inhabitants.

Regards
Max

[HPing]

(08-31-2024 07:27 PM)Maximilian Hohmann Wrote:  When you look at the link posted by J.F.Garnier above you can see that dozens or even hundreds of french computer and games magazines have been digitised and are freely available on the internet. Unfortunately they are not OCRd

Many have been OCRd and/or indexed.

That is the search power of librarian databases we can't access on the internet.

[Gildas C.]

The history of Voyager series was was discussed here recently

I never went to Villard de Lans and don't know about that event which occurred the same year as the tour de France but weeks before the 19th step. The same year, there was a PC Forum with a memorable photo of Steve B. and Bill G.: I don't know if it's related.

I'd like to know what are the competitors/candidates and the ten elected.