IDL Expert Programmer's Association
QUESTION: I see references from time to time on the IDL newsgroup (comp.lang.idl-pvwave) to the IDL Expert Programmer's Association. Where do I find out more about this organization, and how do I join?
ANSWER: The IDL Expert Programmer's Association (IEPA) was founded in 1986 in Boulder, Colorado as the Boulder Mall Drinker's and Carouser's Association. The organization changed its name in 1998 to reflect the more sober principles of its membership at that time (as well as to attract more female members). The Articles of Association were re-discovered in August of 2000 at the bottom of a box of party favors left over from the 1999 Annual Meeting. They apparently had been soaking in beer for most of the previous year, but they were dried out and posted on the orgainization's web page if you care to view them.
The organization's invitation-only membership is kept secret in a pathetic attempt to avoid criminal charges associated with the wild parties that accompany the Annual Meeting. New members are indoctrinated into the organization's myrid and self-contradictory rules and invited to answer the current year's Test Question in early October of each year. Those who answer correctly ("correctly" means you can get at least two of the five sodden judges to agree with you) are taught the secret handshake and are introduced to the membership in a bacchanal (otherwise known as the Induction Dinner) that would resemble a wet T-shirt contest if there were any female members present (which, alas, there is not).
The IEPA, through its IDL Programming Credentials Committee is responsible for approving and issuing IDL Programmer's Credentials in March of each year. Programmers are urged to submit their example programs and their $250 non-refundable registration fee by early January to guarantee review by the entire committee.
While it's pretty clear that nobody in his right mind would actually want to join an organization like this, the IEPA always seems to have enough members down on their luck or between spouses to gather a quorum for their Annual Meeting. You can write the organization's Chairman Emeritus and Historian, Wily E. Coyote (coyote@iepa.org), for additional information.
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Undisclosed European location of the IEPA 2001 Annual Meeting. The tower on the left was demolished shortly after this picture was taken when the ceremonial rocket that signals the beginning of the week's festivities was fired and apparently went off course due to a programming error. |
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IDL Expert Programmer's Association officers dressed in their ceremonial finery prior to the 2001 Induction Dinner. |
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IDL Expert Programmer's Association outing with family and ah... friends, at the end of the 2001 Annual Meeting. Notice the tennis tan on disposed IPEA Chairman David Fanning, far left. Pitiful! Fanning was recalled on a 139-5 vote of the members, as much for his naive insistence on decorum as for his lousy tan. |
Version of IDL used to prepare this article: IDL 7.0.1.
