The magazine of the Melbourne PC User Group
Editorial
David Jitts

This month I have the pleasure of welcoming Jennifer Baum to the PC Update Team. Jennifer has agreed to take up the task of Advertising Manager which has been a task that has been totally neglected in the past. Already some results have begun to flow in.

Regretfully, I have the unpleasant task of advertising John Wilkin's job of Assistant Editor. John's other commitments - to his job, to his studies and last, but not least, to his charming spouse have caught up with him and he has been forced to relinquish that official job but he will continue to help in other ways.

There is a growing trend for the Group to pay for some of the mundane tasks which are performed by members. Currently we are paying for, at least, the following tasks:
  • Packing and addressing this magazine.
  • Copying Public Domain Software.
  • Instructing at the Group's training classes.
  • Administration duties performed by David Sloan.
T he Committee members are not eligible for any payment, which is very proper, since they are the people who vote on "who gets paid, how much and for what." In addition, there are several others who put in many hours (e.g. our Chief Sysop, Charles) without payment. If all those who put in the effort were paid a fair price for their labour, your subscriptions would have to more than double! This would probably cause many members of the Group to "vote with their feet" for financial reasons. Personally, I feel it would destroy the very essence of our existence, which is to help one another because of a common interest bond and I would loose interest in supporting the Group.

Thus no pay is being offered for the job of Assistant Editor. There is a computer offered but the motivation must really be altruistic if one expects to get a sense of achievement out of the task.

Some of our SIGs are waning for lack of enthusiasm. To me, the fact that others appear to be springing up to take their place, indicates that it is not the lack of a need. I believe there is a missing ingredient in how we run our SIGS.

One of the problems is that the SIGS are in no way co-ordinated by the Committee. Anyone who gets the idea that he wants to run a SIG is immediately accepted, thrown in the deep end without a life-jacket irrespective of whether or not he knows how to swim and no one is overly concerned if he drowns in the process. There must be a better way.

I also believe that a SIG meeting really needs access to equipment to keep up the interest. It also needs a comfortable, familiar environment with ample opportunity for a relaxed chat over a cup of coffee or whatever. The real need of our members is to communicate with other users in an informal manner and we are just not providing adequate opportunities for them to do so. We can only do this by setting up our own premises; "EMOH RUO".

I must not conclude without acknowledging the sponsorship we have been receiving from Joe De Simone, Managing Director of MicroHelp. Elsewhere in this edition is an announcement that the Group has bought two Wyse 386 computers. These were furnished by MicroHelp at their nett cost price which represents a big saving of the Group's funds. A goodly portion of these funds. incidentally, were accumulated when Joe was the Group's treasurer.

Reprinted from the May 1988 issue of PC Update, the magazine of Melbourne PC User Group, Australia
 

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