The magazine of the Melbourne PC User Group President’s Annual Report George Skarbek gskarbek@melbpc.org.au |
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Summary
Overall this has been another good year for Melbourne PC User Group. We are in an even stronger financial position than we were at the same time last year where again much of the increase came from the Internet service. With stable membership numbers, improved benefits such as the free Internet e-mail account and several new Special Interest/General groups, and even more improvements planned for the Internet service, the group has excellent prospects for continued, strong growth over the coming years. The Treasurer's report was published in PC Update, September 2002 and contains a summary of our financial status.
Membership
Membership remains stable which is in sharp contrast to many other computer user groups worldwide that have declining member numbers. Against that, and with approximately 10,400 members, we are now almost certainly the largest PC User Group in the world.
Internet
The Internet service continues to grow with over 5,900 members currently subscribed. We have improved the service by further increasing the bandwidth from 2.5 Mbits to 4 Mbits, and some new computers also helped improve the response times. Antivirus software was installed on the mail server and that has proven to be a most successful initiative. During an average week the software has been stopping about 2000 viruses. During the peak of the Bugbear virus it was stopping about 3000 viruses a day.
The iHelp team has answered in excess of 1900 requests for help that were lodged via the Internet during the calendar year to date. The pickup time for the majority of calls is less than four hours.
More improvements are planned for the Internet service.
PC Update
PC Update is continuing at its usual high quality and still improving on past high standards. This is the primary reason why many members belong to Melb PC.
Special and General Interest Groups
There are 41 Special Interest and General Groups and another two are being formed. These groups are an essential and integral part of Melb PC. We have both regional and interest based SIGs covering a wide geographical area and range of topics. All the details are available in PC Update and I would suggest that most members could benefit from attending a SIG. Membership entitles you to attend as many SIGs as you wish and I encourage members to become involved.
Swap Meets
Every Sunday there are at least two Swap Meets in the Town Halls around the suburbs, that's at least eight every month. Melb PC has a stand at all of these, manned by volunteers, and those members are responsible for recruiting many of our new members. Well over 100 members have been signed up in the past year directly from the application forms that have been handed out at the Swap Meets. Many more have joined simply as a result of our presence. For members who have not attended a Swap Meet, I suggest this is something to do, as you can purchase computer equipment relatively cheaply. You might consider assisting for a few hours on the Melb PC stand. If any members would like to offer their services for a few hours on a Sunday, once a month please contact the committee or phone the office. The more volunteers we have, the lower the workload on all.
Bulletin Board Service
The BBS is another free service for all Melb PC members. It contains numerous files that are free for downloading. You do not have pay the Internet subs to use this service. For new members who have not used the BBS, you can log on using the Windows program HyperTerminal, found among your Windows Accessories and you dial 9699 6611. (You cannot use the Windows Dial-Up Networking facility to access the BBS as the communication protocols are completely different.) The BBS is a valuable resource for testing your modem as this can isolate Internet related problems and verify the basic operation of the modem and local phone line.
Shareware
The sale of shareware to members on floppy disk has been replaced by the Monthly CD. This has proven to be extremely popular and details of software that is contained on the CD are available in PC Update each month. It also contains the latest Internet setup kit as well as some essential software such as the Adobe Acrobat reader and WinZip and other programs that are considered essential to have, but are not part of Windows.
Training
Training classes are progressing well and many good quality courses are available to members. Again all details are published in PC Update and I suggest you keep an eye on the training pages for courses covering your needs and interests.
Library
Our library is growing as new books are always being added. A searchable catalogue is available online. Loans for four weeks are free to all members. The newest books require a $5 deposit and you are allowed to borrow up to four books per month.
Monthly Meeting Location
Our membership database shows that the majority of our members are located in the SE suburbs of Melbourne, but the monthly meetings are held north of the city. The committee decided to hold several meeting at Monash Clayton. This produced attendance of two to three times that at Parkville so in response to that, next year we will be alternating between two meetings in the SE and one at Parkville. Full details will be published later. The question of where to hold meetings has caused much discussion within committee and I have received more e-mail addressed to the president on this topic, than on all other matters combined in the last three years. Many members have stated strong preferences for the venue of their choice.
Office
Our current office staff continues to provide excellent service, both to the members and to committee. Their workload is high but they are assisted by volunteers and this enables the group to function most efficiently.
In concluding I thank the hundreds of volunteers who make Melb PC such an active and worthwhile user group. Without your involvement we would not exist. The mere fact that we have ten candidates standing for eight committee positions is a healthy sign that there is strong interest from members who are prepared to put in considerable effort in helping to make our group even better. Your last committee worked diligently to improve services for the entire membership and this trend will only improve.
Thank you all.
Reprinted from the November 2002 issue of PC Update, the magazine of Melbourne PC User Group, Australia
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