Comments on: HP’s Little Basin

By: Brad Viets

Brad Viets — Sat, 20 Oct 2007 04:02:13 +0000

As an employee for 30+ years at HP and Agilent, I really appreciated the recreational sites provided by the company. The company picnics were great!
I just learned that Agilent sold its Hermit Park recreational land near Rocky Mountain National Park for about 6.6 Million. I’m guessing that HP/Agilent decided to sell all their recreational properties. At least Hermit Park was bought by Larmier County Parks and Open Lands for the public to enjoy. It is too sad that benifits for current and retirees are disapearing.

By: Jill Johnson

Jill Johnson — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 10:13:35 +0000

All of us old HP’ers just need to face it. HP is not the company it once was and never will be. After 20 plus years, I drive by the buildings and feel no sense of loss, no loyalty. But the true HP lives well in my memories.

By: jim

jim — Fri, 08 Jun 2007 18:27:42 +0000

This seems like a great place. Howeve in my 2+ years at HP, I never even heard of it. The days of either H or P doing anything with the troops was a thing of the past. I do not even think there was a company event hosted when I was there, and I worked in HQ!!!!

By: Joe Cuneo

Joe Cuneo — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 22:45:06 +0000

I was fortunate enough to have been involved in the handling of camping reservations at Little Basin. Having fielded thousands of calls from excited wouldbe campers, I can’t tell you what a hugh loss this is to the HP community. Having grown up in a HP family, I have spent many days and nights taking in the beauty of the fabulous little place on earth.

Many thanks go out to not only the company, but to the masses of HP Retirees and numerous work parties that have made Little Basin a special little place for all of us.

Little Basin…. RIP

By: Esther

Esther — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 11:47:56 +0000

The one great perk we got as HP employees is use of this fabulous campsite. I would give up all my other employee discounts and perks to still have Little Basin around. I camped here even as a college intern. I would bring my friends at least once a year here for a great weekend of relaxation and hiking. I’m so sad to see it being sold off. :(
I guess having it being added into the state park system is better than having it sold to developers but I will miss this perk as an employee of HP. I loved how private and clean this place was. It’s much more spacious of a campsite than Big Basin which seems so cramped. Little Basin is quiet, clean, and a great hidden treasure in the Santa Cruz mountains. I remember many great memories of laying out in the meadow at night looking up in the sky for shooting stars and satellites. I can’t believe how emotional I’m getting just thinking about Little Basin. It will be sad to see it go.

By: Kathy Hall

Kathy Hall — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 22:57:39 +0000

It is unfortunate that HP’s Exective Committee could not have come up with something more creative to keep the HP legacy associated with the property. It is very obvious that preserving the HP Way is not a priority (or even on their radar). The money they are saving is a drop in the ocean, the damage the HP legacy is devastating. A quote from page 126-127 of Mike Malone’s new book “Bill & Dave – How Hewlett and Packard built the worlds’ greatest company” …”The goodwill created by Little Basin survived even Bill and Dave. During the difficult Carly Fiorina years of 2002-2003 when HP stock was falling, sales were flat and the new management was indulging in one round of layoffs after another, there were still hundredes of surviing employees who stayed loyal to the company because one of their parents had worked at HP and had taken them as children to Little Basin.”

By: Gary Fisher

Gary Fisher — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 03:59:41 +0000

The person that said “what are you complaining about” doesn’t understand the real Hewlett-Packard (HP way) employee and what the campground means to us. The HP WAY enbodies all that the HP campground represented. The alll for one and one for all feeling. What one of the other reponse’s referred to when in 1970 the company went on 4 1/2 day work week to save ten thousand jobs. That was what the HP Way meant we all helped each other. No seperation of managers and workers at HP the higher level of managers took a 10% cut in pay and the rest of us took a 5% cut in pay. That’s just one of the many things that meant the HP Way. Respect for every job in the company from the person serving the coffe to the Chairman of the board. Dave and Bill respected everyone no matter who they were. They led by example and because of that you never questioned whether you should stick around to finish what you were doing or put in extra time it never occurred to you that you were working overtime. You just did it because you know they would do it for you. The picnics were designed for the managers of the company to serve the workers. The workers were in charge of the committees and recurited the managers to help them with the cooking, serving, all the things involved in running a good picnic. There could be as many as 3,000 people attend and you had to have your act together to pull that off and have a successful picnic. It would give employees management expereice as well. – The penny hunt my kids still talk about the penny hunts we had. I worked at lots of the picnics in fact I co-chaired the 1976 picnic. What a great time. I took several vacations when my kids were little at the camp grounds. (the only place I could afford to go because it was free). This is just one more thing to take away from the best company that ever was ever formed. Dave and Bill were two of the best men that walked this planet and founded a company. Sorry guys for taking this last memory away of the “way” it should be…….. employee from 1958 – 1987.

By: sygyzy

sygyzy — Sat, 02 Jun 2007 06:01:42 +0000

What are you guys all complaining about? A piece of forest land was sold by a for-profit computing company and purchased by LAND TRUSTS and will now be added to STATE PARKS.

By: Pam Arivett

Pam Arivett — Sat, 02 Jun 2007 03:19:37 +0000

I too remember the wonderful summer picnics and how the children really looked forward to the HP picnic at Little Basin with their families. What wonderful memories forever.

As a 29-year employee, I also recognize that it’s a different world than the “good ‘ol days” at HP when our high-quality products were easy to sell and the American dream was easily attainable for even the lowest-paid people at HP. HP’s competitors are challenging; and bottom line, our stock holders expect the best performance and execution consistently. I’m happy that our senior management team is making hard choices that enable us to make the numbers and compete in this incredibly changing marketplace. Better to lose a few luxuries than our jobs. I’ll always remember Little Basin fondly.

By: Jerry Illers

Jerry Illers — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 22:49:54 +0000

Having been the Caretaker for Little Basin for 13 years, and having poured my life into trying to make LB all it could be for the thousands of dedicated HP employees who truly felt the HP way coursing through every aspect of their lives, and their families lives, this is a very sad expression of corporate greed. The 13 million dollars HP will add to its bottom line will never replace the loss the employee’s feel as they see yet another unique HP benefit stripped away. Each one of the Board of Directors should have spent at least one weekend camping at LB, so they could have seen the joy in a mothers eyes as she watched her children playing with their Father in a safe, secure, private setting provided by Bill and Dave for this exact purpose. Bill and Dave understood that it is the employee’s that make a company Great, not the bottom line. Yes, HP exisits to make money, however treating your employee’s with respect, and rewarding them with simple acknowledgements like division picnics, and other unique HP family gatherings, go a long way in making HP that speical place to work. If money was really the issue, a small charge for it’s use could have offset much of the annual budget. So it is a sad farewell to two true visionaries dream. I’m sorry Bill and Dave. Little Basin 1963-2007 Good Bye…..