The magazine of the Melbourne PC User Group Prez Said Ron Lyth

Make no mistake! Melb PC is very much alive and kicking. 

All of us join a user group for personal reasons, but I believe that we all hope to get something from it, and preferably something worth more than our annual subscription. In my own case I joined so that I could establish contact with fellow programmers who might help me develop as a commercial programmer, and the furthest thing from my mind was that I might find myself as President. 

The truth of the matter is that I did find that assistance, but, more importantly, I quickly found that this group had a far greater awareness of and commitment to the computer industry than I had found elsewhere in the community. 

Computer manufacturers have shareholders to cater to, and have a primary motivation to shift iron and make a buck or several. Most programmers, myself included, also are primarily looking for the place where the dollars are thickest. Governments of all complexions are innocent of any knowledge of the strategic importance of the computer industry to this country's future (Barry Jones excepted, but his voice is, unfortunately, lost in the Canberra B.S.). 

The Australian Computer Society has qualified itself out of relevance and is far more interested in finding a more efficient sort algorithm than in providing a framework for the support of new entrants to the industry, and it is left to the humble old User Group to provide the forum for real interchange of ideas which we, as users need, and through our members, to give the community a positive feeling for computers. 

Pretty heavy stuff, you say, and what the hell is Pres on about?? Well, one of the first tasks which I undertook on becoming President was to establish a sub-committee to examine future directions for the group, and it was while sorting out priorities and looking at what others are doing that the above thoughts came into being. We have developed some key objectives and I would like to share them with you. (PS. If you have any comments or suggestions which might help us, please pass them to me by mail, phone, Telememo or Minerva (user-id RLF001 for both), or by Viatel to Artel Computer).) First, we have decided that Melb PC will actively seek to increase membership through three main programmes:

• Recruitment of new members.
  
• The amalgamation of smaller User Groups as Special Interest Groups (SIG's).
  
• Providing a range of quality activities and benefits for existing members so that they will continue to be members.

To support this concept we must provide better means of keeping our members informed, and this will involve the establishment of an officially funded Bulletin Board, which should be up and running early this year. We are also looking to see what can be done on other media such as Viatel etc. and will keep you informed of developments.

The greatest need we have identified is to streamline our operations and to build a strong and efficient organisation structure which is designed to handle a large membership. It is my firm belief that the problems of the previous committee were due to the extremely rapid growth experienced in 1985/86 and the failure to change procedures to match this growth. In the process we will make some changes which will upset some members, but it is a regrettable fact of life that large organisations do lose some of their spontaneity. Another good reason for our decision to develop and strengthen SIG's. 

The first new SIG I can announce is the DOS Technical SIG which arose out of the DOS course held last December. Felix Hoffmann has been appointed as SIG Co-ordinator pro-tem and he has full details of the SIG activities elsewhere in this magazine. 

This SIG is closely followed by a NEC SIG. There is a separate NEC User Group and we have invited them to join us, but we understand they have declined our invitation. For those of our members who run NEC's and don't want to change clubs (and pay 2 sets of subs) we have decided to support them from within the group. Dave Power is the Co-ordinator and is keen to get this SIG up and running. 

Our Editor is developing a strong Editorial subcommittee and, while co-ordinating the Desktop Publishing SIG, will be looking for willing recruits to assist him in making this magazine Australia's premier user group publication. 

Training activities are set to feature largely in this year's activities. The Turbo Pascal SIG has started a course on Turbo Pascal for its members, and we will be organising a course in programming for all comers which will teach the principles of structured programming using Turbo Pascal. The DOS courses conducted last year will be run again and we hope to offer an advanced DOS course also. 

The Sydney User Group has written to us to propose the concept of forming a national confederation. While the concept has a lot of merit, your Committee feels that we need to consolidate on a state-wide basis before tackling the many problems which confront a national body. In the meantime, a dialogue will continue to develop stronger informal links with interstate groups. One likely outcome, is a co-operative effort to publish a single news-letter. We will be reporting more on this next month. 

Read the centre page spread carefully because we have got some real bargains for you. Our thanks to Special Offer Co-ordinator, Gordon Castle. If you have got some cash left after Christmas, or if Aunt Maude gave you a fistful of the folding stuff, what could be better than to buy something for your hard-working computer. She deserves it. 

Well, that's just about finishes me for this month except to say that I hope that you will take advantage of all we are offering and get the most from your membership subs, which, by the way, remain unchanged for 1987/88.

Reprinted from the January 1987 issue of PC Update, the magazine of Melbourne PC User Group, Australia

[About Melbourne PC User Group]