The magazine of the Melbourne PC User Group The Oval Office Ron Lyth

One of our corporate members from Royal Insurance has suggested that Melbourne PC User Group, and indeed all User Groups, should have the goal of 'Effective Personal Computing'. This term is used as the name of Royal's internal DP Magazine, and refers to both micro and mainframe computing because the goal of all computing should reflect some personal goal regardless of the tool used. 

How well does this phrase line up with what Melb PC is doing? If we consider the first word I believe that many of our activities are directed to increasing the effectiveness of our members both as hobbyists and in a professional sense. 

Many members first join our ranks as a result of realising that they need help to enable them to get value from the computer they have been sold or asked to operate. This club certainly offers many facilities for assisting starters, ranging from 'Random Access' at our monthly meeting, special training courses, SIG's, and not forgetting our excellent magazine. This year we will be starting our own Bulletin Board, and we will shortly be providing some notice of our activities on Viatel. 

As a result of efforts by our Publicity Officer, Gordon Castle, we have access to the microcomputer training facilities at RMIT between 5.30 and 9.30 pm on Friday nights during term, and we will be doing our best to ensure that there is some organised activity there each week. 

All these activities are designed to make you more effective in getting the most from your computer. We also are working as hard as possible to ensure that our approach is personal. It is not easy for every member of a large club to feel that their needs are important to the rest of the club. We hold your needs to be paramount in this club! If you have a point of view which you want to broadcast feel free to send a letter to the Committee or to the editor, write an article for PC Update, speak out during Random Access, or have your say at a SIG meeting. 

We are committed to providing the best possible facilities for all members and want to find out what your needs are. In particular, this year is shaping as a year in which we take on some community projects (the possibility of work on speech recognition for the RVIB, the assistance to prisoners etc) but we are sure that some of our members are handicapped in some way which limits their performance at the computer keyboard, and I don't mean such mundane things as not understanding 'C'. I mean to say, who does? 

Suffice it to say that this club is very much a people club and we want it to stay that way. 

The final part of the slogan is the word 'Computing', and this serves to remind us that, despite everything else, we are first and foremost a club dedicated to the goal of mastering the art of computing. Our commitment to education, SIG's, the dissemination of Public Domain software and the endeavours of our PC Update contributors are all 100% directed toward that goal. 

While our club can be seen to be actively supporting the goal of effective personal computing, I am sure that there is a lot which we could as individuals do to promote this concept. Possibly the most important thing we can do is to pass on hard-earned tips, to help someone with a computing problem, to write our experiences into a PC Update article, and to be willing to give assistance as well as receive it. As long as this club has a majority of members who believe in this goal and act accordingly we will be a valuable force in the community. 

I have been having discussions with two large Melbourne computer clubs regarding the possibility of forging closer links between the groups. Broadly the suggestions being considered range all the way from the formation of a federation of user groups to complete amalgamation into one very large group with a number of hardware oriented SIG's. 

My personal preference is for the super group because I am a firm believer in getting value for money. Unless an 'umbrella' organisation takes some of the administrative load from existing groups, I can see little justification for feeding it money. On the other hand, everyone wants to do their own thing and regards any perceived threat to their autonomy as less than desirable. 

The thing is that, far from losing identity, amalgamation can act to provide a stronger focus. I arrived in Melb PC when the then Turbo Pascal User Group decided to amalgamate, and I believe that the Turbo SIG is now a stronger group than before. It has benefited from the influx of new members, while retaining its own identity and is able to do its own thing free from the hassles of raising its own funds, producing its own newsletter, finding people to serve on a committee etc. 

I suppose that it all boils down to the attitude of those at the top, but, if they get out of line, the members always have the last word. I guess that it's pretty much the same as any other field of endeavour; you only get out what you are prepared to put in. 

Anyway, I will be meeting with these clubs soon and would appreciate your opinions regarding this subject. 

And now the good news. Christmas has arrived early and we can pass on some cost reductions to you. Public Domain software mailing costs have been cut from $5.00 to $3.00 per order, while the price of new blank diskettes has been reduced to $20.00 per box of 10 double-sided, double density in cardboard boxes, and to $22.00 for the same disks in a plastic library box. Also, we hope to be able to supply blank diskettes at all SIG meetings, but this will not happen overnight. We will keep you informed. 

Reprinted from the March/April 1987 issue of PC Update, the magazine of Melbourne PC User Group, Australia

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