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IBM AS400 – Synon-2

obviously delighted with IBM's choice, as it would increase
our credibility even further. As I got up to leave, I said to
him: "I wonder how I would have felt if IBM had chosen a
product other than Synon-2". He looked at me with a smirk.
I confirmed my agreement with IBM, prepared the
presentation and recited it several times to keep it to
20 minutes.
The first rehearsal was attended by a dozen people from
IBM, and I knew my lines and had put the right tone to them.
They were quite pleased. They asked me to send them
sketches of some slides they were going to prepare. The
result was superb. In this respect, I was impressed by IBM's
professionalism!
During the second rehearsal, I was able to do it with all

the necessary equipment to link the speech with the
dynamics of the slides. Again, it went very well. The third
and final rehearsal was organized as a dress rehearsal. All
the speakers were present, as well as a professional
presenter for the sequences.
On June 21, 1988, over 700 people attended IBM's major
announcement of the new AS400 computer series. It was a
great success, with all the topics of interest. At the end of the
event, IBM presented each participant with a gift. To receive
it, a questionnaire had to be filled in, indicating which
products might be of interest to them.
At the beginning of July 1988, they phoned to tell me that
they had received over 450 requests for information on
Synon-2 and wanted to meet me. I accepted their invitation
and was welcomed by three directors. They began the

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