 The magazine of the Melbourne PC User Group Prez Said Lloyd Borrett |
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New Members
Welcome stranger. Well it's an entirely appropriate greeting given that some 400 new members will be reading this newsletter. Yes, that's right, FOUR HUNDRED.
As you might have guessed, the Communications '86 Show was a tremendous success for Melb PC. Just as well we chose a stand buried away in the Communications '86 section of the show. As it was the stand was packed most of the time, and many people complained that they couldn't get to us. It's terrifying to contemplate what may have happened had we been in the more prominent PC ' 86 section of the show!
Members came from everywhere to volunteer some of their time to help setup and run our stand. I won't try to thank them individually here, for I'm bound to leave someone out. Thank you one and all for a job well done.
(By the way, Ian Mintern did show up from Hamilton on the last day of the show. He read my June "Pres Said" the day before and drove down especially to be there. Tradition is maintained.)
We signed up just over 300 new members in the four days of the show, and many more have rolled in since. But it's not all due to the show.
The Turbo Pascal User Group has agreed to become a special interest group of Melb PC. In the short time since that announcement a number of these new members have already become active in the Public Domain Software SIG, and the magazine. If you're interested in Turbo Pascal, check out the time for the Turbo Pascal SIG meeting and get along there.
For those of you who are new to Melb PC, I encourage you to get involved and share in the fun, work and benefit of serving others along with yourself. (And that's not an invitation for the rest of you to sit back and relax either!)
June Meeting
Now wasn't that meeting room something to behold! Standing room only, with nearly 300 people present. Naturally a large proportion were newcomers.
The feedback I've received is that most enjoyed themselves, found it an informative meeting, but are still feeling their way when it comes to being able to fully utilise all the services Melb PC has to offer. It's now up to us to make all of these new members feel welcome, and help them find their feet.
We tried something new, and a little risky, at the meeting by changing from the "normal" format. To be quite truthful I was more than a little bit nervous about it. To tempt fate by trying something new on a night when we could expect our largest turnout yet, and then to leave it until the day of the meeting to finalize the panel!
Thankfully it came off. In fact I'd go so far as to say, one of our best meetings ever. Dare we try it again sometime? You bet!
The Complete PC Tutorial
Most members present warmed to Richard Swannell's story of "rags to riches, to destitute, to riches again" story. Well let's be honest, how couldn't you.
Given the many testimonials for "The Complete PC Tutorial" received at previous meetings, and the overwhelming interest shown at the June meeting something had to be done. So, the committee has arranged to offer the product to members for the price of $49. That's a big saving over the $69 recommended retail price.
At the present time that offer is restricted to those who can make it along to the general meetings. I understand that some of the training courses currently being planned intend to use "The Complete PC Tutorial" as part of the course. And as Richard promised, it's only the beginning.
Accountability?
The other night it became crystal clear that unless we move quickly to automate our accounting procedures it could all get away from us. If nothing else an automated system will force certain procedures and checks upon us. Naturally we would also hope to be able to further streamline our administration and get more accurate information faster.
Now it just so happens that HiSoft Computers, the company I work for full-time, markets a very comprehensive and fully integrated general business accounting system called HiFinance 3. In a state of desperation I then and there called Alan Kras, one of HiSoft's directors.
That Alan had no hesitation in immediately agreeing to provide Melb PC with all modules of the system we required is much appreciated. Work started that same night. Since then my fellow workmates at HiSoft have been more than willing to assist me get the system up and running.
HiFinance 3 is designed to suit a large range of clients, and even without any knowledge of accounting procedures I have always found it simple to use and clearly understandable. Thus I had no hesitation in recommending it for Melb PC. I also see my close ties with those developing and supporting HiFinance 3 as a big benefit when it comes to making such a system work for us.
Currently we are concentrating on putting the '85-'86 figures through the general ledger. Eventually we will fire up the debtors, creditors, inventory, and order processing modules. We may also use the job costing module to track our publishing and disk copying activities.
All up the donation is worth some $5,000, a not inconsiderable sum.
More Donations To Come?
Do we have any Microsoft COBOL programmers out there? The next step is to write a membership module to integrate with the debtors module of HiFinance 3 and provide us with the membership statistics we require. After all, a group such as ours does have some requirements different to those of a normal business.
By the way we still need a computer to run the accounts on (we are currently using one on loan from MicroHelp), another for magazine production, and a portable for use at general meetings and SIG meetings. Oh, and about ten for a training room would be nice. Any offers?
Of course it doesn't stop there. We could also do with a permanent office and all that goes with it. And if someone was to volunteer their time to staff such an office we would be forever grateful.
Rest assured that your committee is actively canvassing for such donations, loans and offers of help, and so far the signs are promising.
The Proposed New Constitution
We have our AGM coming up on the 2nd July and by now you should have all received a copy of the proposed new constitution. Let me say that I'm the first to agree that it's not a perfect document, and there are a number of changes that perhaps should be made.
But we MUST pass the proposed constitution. Provisions in both the current and proposed constitutions make it impossible to amend the proposed constitution at the AGM. All we can do is accept the proposed document or continue with the existing constitution.
The need to rethink the organisation of our administration, and legal issues that have surfaced because of our size and the scope of our activities, make it vital that we adopt this new constitution.
What Is Melb PC?
Melb PC's service-orientated, educational, and non-profit nature has been a fundamental tenet of our existence. Unlike some organizations that have chosen to portray themselves as "user groups" or "SIGS" when their highest paid (and sometimes only) employee is their president or founder (e.g. PC-SIG Public Domain Software Library).
And yet I can remember when one user group in another state accused us of charging too much for our services and being profit motivated. We took the position that services at least pay their way, and any money left over be used to expand existing services or establish new ones. That we have a huge collection of well over five hundred public domain software disks compared to their 50 odd is but one measure of our success.
This time last year we recognised that if our rapid growth was to continue we would need to be able to afford part-time assistance and/or paid staff. We set out to make that possible. In recent times we have been able to pay for students to carry out the less endearing tasks of bulk diskette copying and newsletter mail outs.
Even though large sums of money have been paid out to purchase assets capable of streamlining our services (e.g. a laser printer, and a diskette copier), we still have enough funds to be able to consider opening an office and taking on part-time or full-time staff. And yet, Melb PC continues to be a living example of "users helping users".
Melb PC does not attempt to limit itself to being either a professional association or a consumer group. We have have charted new territory for ourselves by combining the best elements of both and focusing our resources on better serving our members. Despite our tremendous growth, we continue to preserve the early tenets of faith that require each of us to care enough about the other members to share our experiences (both the successes and the failures).
Problems At The Helm
Ever since our founding in November ' 83 we have had problems obtaining enough volunteers prepared to assume the responsibility for our various services. Thus, to some extent, we have become vulnerable to the manipulation of a single individual or a small group of individuals. For some time I've been concerned that we may be suffering the fate of some user groups who have their name becoming synonymous with that of a single member (usually their founder and only only president). In the case of Melb PC that individual could be seen to be me.
Now I'd like to think that those who know me, also know that I'm only involved in Melb PC for two reasons. Firstly, the thrill of watching members grow in confidence, knowledge, and experience as they bounce ideas of one another. Secondly, the fun I have and the friends I make.
Those that believe I'm in it for glory, commercial gain, or any other similar reason are way off the mark. In fact there have been many times when the extent of my involvement with Melb PC has been in direct conflict with my full-time job. Thankfully the two companies I've worked for during those times have been prepared to tolerate the situation.
I know that by far the majority of the other individuals who have been involved with Melb PC over the years have been similarly motivated. This is born out by the fact that Melb PC has established itself as a non-profit, educational organisation by being proactive on behalf of our members -as a record of our activities and accomplishments illustrates. This should be a source of pride to every member.
As for me, I've thought for some time that it's time for me to take to the back seat and let the energy of some new persons direct the efforts of our group. As I mentioned last month, people have come from everywhere in the last four months to volunteer their services. I've made my feelings known to these people.
My position of "I'm not sure if I want to be so involved", coupled with some major problems in our administration, and an election coming up has forced all involved to think about each others place in our future.
Last Monday it was at the stage where I couldn't take it any more and I took a posture I consider totally foreign to my character - exigent, assertive, predominant, and dictatorial. (Isn't an on-line Thesaurus wonderful.)
Please bear with me while I explain why.
Administrative Breakdown?
It's entirely fair to say that over the last year a criticism of our committee was that it has been a bit too keen to move forward and a little to slow to attend to detail. This has caused a number of administrative problems which we must now face up to. A number of key positions were held by people who could not devote the time required and were effectively vacant for some months. Those who are active did not take up the responsibility of putting things straight soon enough.
As president I must accept responsibility. Too much "Mr. Nice Guy" within a group of friends, and not being prepared to take the "Tough Decisions". (I too, like Bob Hawke, am prepared to admit such mistakes.)
It's not so much that we have let you the members down, for in reality I believe little has suffered, it's more that we have let ourselves down. We all recognise the potential disaster in store for the group if the situation is allowed to continue. At the same time there is a belief that we can do it right, but how do we prove that to you the members.
My Solution
Get tough. Prove to you the members that we can and will take hard decisions.
I have decided who I believe can contribute the most to the next committee. This has been done after much consultation, and all concerned have already proved their abilities. Unfortunately this rules out recent additions to our membership, but we just can't take the risk of someone failing and time being wasted while a replacement is found.
Some of this proposed committee is old blood, some new. My intention is not to demean the, in most cases, considerable and most valuable contributions of those I seek to replace, merely to say that I believe their efforts could be best directed elsewhere and that the new blood appears better able to provide the change in direction now vital on the committee.
But that is not nearly enough. We must also prove this new committee can put aside deeply held personal convictions in the best interest of Melb PC. To this end I have asked each member to take a particular position on the new committee. Now you can appreciate that this can be a very tough pill to swallow.
It's highly desirable that the people involved continue to fulfil existing commitments and in addition take their "designated" place on the committee. But no-one, I repeat, no-one is irreplaceable. If all I have laid out is not acceptable, then replace me.
Finally let me say that it would probably have been the easiest of tasks to have kept all this from you. But, I believe in an open administration, and your right to know what is going on.
Reprinted from the July 1986 issue of PC Update, the magazine of Melbourne PC User Group, Australia
