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The following
is a message from Stuart
Silverman, APCUG, Region 5 - Advisor, stusil@comcast.net
I'm
sure you'll find it interesting:
I am so proud of Region 5. We had one of the best
conferences in recent memory. Marie Vesta, FACUG President
did a splendid job of leading the group to a cooperative and
harmonious relationship that resulted in the participants
going away with such good feelings. In fact, a survey
conducted by Ton Thiel resulted in an overwhelming 98%
approval rating. 98% of the attendees that responded to the
survey which was limited to 100 participants indicated they
would return to another FACUG Conference.
Check out the next edition of Reports coming out in April
and discover the many interesting things going on in Region
5 see below for additional happenings.
There are efforts in the southeast part of the state to
gather several of the user groups together to help
coordinate programs and processes. We arranged for Smart
Computing to present in 5 different user groups during the
third week of March. Do you know the User Groups in your
area? Have you tried working out cooperative programs? Look
into this concept, there might be great rewards awaiting
you.
If you have program ideas please send them my way. I
would love to share what is working for you and gain some
program ideas myself. All it takes is a quick email-and who
knows-you might be the star of this Nooz next month! As a
result of my request at the FACUG Conference I have received
a few additional newsletters. Could the editors please put
me on your mailing list. Also, if you have a wonderful
volunteer who goes beyond the call of duty let me know.
Thanks.
A suggestion for a good meeting is to have your library
speak to you on what they have to offer. Most people aren’t
aware of what they can access from home via the library. Oh,
I have a request. I want to do a presentation on Skype and
want to know if anyone has one prepared that they would be
willing to share. As a teacher I have quickly learned to
steal (borrow) an idea as why should I reinvent the wheel.
If you have one let me know and send it my way! Thanks.
This edition of NOOZ is sent to the President, Vice
President, Director, Secretary, Treasurer, APCUG
Representative, Newsletter Editor, Webmaster, Membership and
Program Chairs of each APCUG-member User Group.
We urge you to share the information in NOOZ by including
it in your newsletter, posting it on your Website, or
e-mailing it to the members of your group.
In this edition of NOOZ:
1. Annual Convention
2. Regional Conferences
3. Fundraising Idea
4. FACUG Spring Conference Recap
5. APCUG’s News Magazine, Reports
1. Annual Convention. The Board of Directors and
Board of Advisors recently had a discussion regarding the
Las Vegas annual convention and decided that APCUG will try
something new. The annual meeting will not be held in Las
Vegas. It will be moved around each year to a new location
at regional events. This solution allows different user
groups to attend APCUG events. Discussions are ongoing to
offer events around the world as user groups show interest
in hosting a local event. APCUG is willing to work with the
user groups who would like to offer these regional events in
their area. If your group is interested in helping start an
APCUG-sponsored regional event, contact Jay Ferron at
president@apcug.net.
More details will be found in Q1 Reports that will be sent
to selected officers in April.
2. Regional Conferences. Two APCUG-sponsored
regional events are planned for 2008. The first Membership &
Leadership Development Conference (Growing Your User Group
in Today’s Digital Age!) will be held May 16 – 18 in West
Nyack NY, 30 miles north of New York City. This is the first
meeting of Eastern regional groups in over 10 years and
something they have been looking forward to. The $49
early-bird registration fee ($60 for non-APCUG members)
includes breakfast and lunch for two days as well as a
welcome bag and t-shirt. This rate is good until April 15.
Friday evening will feature a welcome event for those who
come early; Saturday is an entire day of speakers and
workshops devoted to building and increasing your group’s
membership; and Sunday workshops are on technology,
promoting your club, and the ins and outs of running a club.
The conference will be held at the Palisades Center Mall,
one of the largest in the U.S. There are many restaurants,
shops, movie theaters, a bowling alley and ice skating rink
so that all can enjoy their time in NY. There are
hotels/motels within a few miles to fit any budget. See the
conference website for special event rates and book early.
If you have any questions, please contact Sam Wexler at
swexler@apcug.net.
The second regional event will be the first APCUG Midwest
User Group Conference to be held at the Prairie State
College in Chicago Heights, IL, September 19 – 21. The
Chicago Society will host this event. The theme of the
conference is “Technology for the Rest of Us.” Again,
everyone is invited to attend. This three-day conference
will feature topics that will cater to the membership of
organizations rather than its leadership. The conference
begins on Friday with registration and an evening social
gathering with light snacks being provided. Saturday will
feature vendor and member presentations. Sunday will feature
a Vendor Fair and end with the ever-popular prize drawing.
For spouses of out-of-town attendees, brochures of sites in
the Chicago area will be available. For further information,
please contact Patty Lowry at
plowry@apcug.net.
A third event, the Southwest Computer Conference, will be
held in San Diego, May 30 – June 1 (the weekend after
Memorial Day). Although this event is not an APCUG-sponsored
regional conference, this is the 15th
year for the conference and the majority of the attendees
are members of APCUG-member user groups. As with the other
two events, all are invited to attend. Some of the new
activities this year will include a presentation on Friday
afternoon on the History of Computers and a keynote address
by a representative from the Homeland Security Department in
Washington DC. Saturday activities include user group
leadership and personal productivity workshops as well as
vendor tech sessions. Saturday evening is devoted to the
Vendor Expo and Sunday features the Digital Photo Contest
awards, door prize drawings and another round of workshops.
The $60 early-bird registration fee includes all meals,
workshops, a welcome bag and t-shirt, as well as numerous
door prize drawings. For further information, contact Judy
Taylour at
JudyTaylour@theswcc.org
3. Fundraising Idea from Gabe Goldberg, Region 2
Advisor. Become an Amazon Affiliate. It’s easy to join
Amazon’s Associates. Just visit
http://affiliate-program.amazon.com/gp/associates/join
and follow the instructions. Once you’re approved, simply
tell your members and everyone they know to shop at Amazon
through your group’s store link rather than going directly
to amazon.com. Then count the money rolling in. Gabe says
that until you have your own group’s store established, the
Capital PCUG would LOVE for you to use their store. Just go
to
http://shop.cpcug.org/ and shop away.
See Q2 Reports for more information.
4. FACUG (Florida Association of User Groups)
Spring 2008 Conference.
A very successful 14th
annual FACUG Spring Conference was held just north of Tampa
on Florida’s west coast in early March. All of the
participants and vendors gave extremely positive feedback.
The member presentations were great and each and every
vendor presentation was stimulating and interested their
audience. Kudos to FACUG. They had the courage to try many
new concepts and swept the 150+ attendees off their feet.
For pictures and a description of the program, as well as a
copy of some of the presentations, visit
www.facug.org.
5. APCUG’s News Magazine, Reports. Some of the
interesting information you will find in the Q2 issue are:
Preparing a Gadgets Presentation for UG Meetings by Gabe
Goldberg; more about the LDC in New York by Sam Wexler as
well as a recap of the recent FACUG event by Stu Silverman;
an article by Terry Roberts about the ICON Computer Users’
Group annual technology fair, “The March of Technology
Expo,” held in Springfield, Missouri, on February 29; an
article by Ash Nallawalla on his award-winning list of
computer user groups new website; Windows Home Server by
Clint Tinsley; an APCUG White Paper by Ash Nallawalla on
Realignment with Consumer Electronics; plus much more.
Virginia Chilcote |
