As I write for our last PC Update for 2004, I am amazed that the year has flown so quickly - and that so much has been happening during the past 11 months. And, as we enter the festive season, on behalf of the Management Committee I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Safe and Prosperous New Year.

Office Relocation - YES!
 
With the new office at Chadstone completed on time by mid-October, we were able to move the Office services on 23 October (managed by Sharon Reeve), and the Interest Group and Training Activities on 30 October (managed by Bill Dair). With a new environment, there were some initial set up delays and problems, and my thanks to the office staff (Sharon and Katie Daly) for their patience and resilience during the first few weeks.

We are now bedding in all the new security procedures, and getting members tuned to "where-to-find-us", "where-to-park", "how-to-get-in", "how-to-use" etc - towards best use of this new facility. Feedback to date has been very complimentary and we seek to build on that success by providing additional meetings and services to the membership. Features being considered include wireless Internet access, Voice-over-IP test facilities and demonstration Home LAN setups. As well, I welcome other ideas on how we can now exploit this expanded, easier-access facility.
 
Chadstone Open House
 
To enable members to see our new area, we will be having an Open House session from 9.00 am until noon on Saturday 4 December. You are all invited to come in, have a guided tour of the facilities, enjoy a coffee, and meet the management team. We suggest that a 9.00 am arrival is far better than 11.00 am - as Saturdays in December are not ideal times to be looking for handy parking spots in a shopping centre!

We are also planning this type of event to be a regular monthly event - with special emphasis on having an introductory session for new members where we can explain all aspects of user group activities. Watch this space in the New Year for further details.

Internet Relocation - YES!

Apart from the Chadstone strategy, the group needed a more robust Internet location - as a number of environmental issues, such as power availability and air conditioning failures had hampered us at Dorcas Street. It was therefore decided that the Internet service should be relocated into a special purpose-built area, such as that offered by AAPT-Burnley.

Initial planning focused on how this could be done with minimal change for users by retaining the existing phone numbers. This approach meant that the transfer could not be done without having a complete systems outage. On balance, it was considered that a 12-hour outage would be less risk and preferable to having ALL members needing to change their dial-in phone numbers.

Note: Phone number 9934 9400 was not transferred - and users of that number were requested to change to either 9697 4000 or 8626 5000.

On Thursday 11 November the transfer successfully occurred, and my special thanks to the main work team - Richard Solly, Sean Clarke, Stan Johnstone, James Cox, George Skarbek and Scott Torr, plus on-the-day assistance from Doug Brooke and Ian Downie. There were certainly some pressure points during the day, and some overnight teething problems, but overall the team responded well and we now have a far more robust environment, and at lower overall cost.

My thanks also to members for their patience while we did the conversion and while sorting out a few follow-on implementation problems.

Anniversary and December Monthly Meeting

The Group was founded in 1984 and this is our 20th year. To recognize this milestone, the December monthly meeting will include a section for some of our key earlier identities to reminisce with us about the past twenty years. It will be preceded by the usual Q&A session, followed by a presentation from Dataworks of their PC programs based on themes such as "Better Homes and Gardens" and "Bananas in Pyjamas".

The meeting is in a new venue this time: the Richard Berry Building (close to Swanston Street and Faraday Street), University of Melbourne, Parkville. Starting time is 6.00 pm sharp, finishing by 8.45 pm, followed by a WAFFLE (dinner) session for the night owls.

Reprinted from the December 2004 issue of PC Update, the magazine of Melbourne PC User Group, Australia

[ About Melbourne PC User Group ]