 The magazine of the Melbourne PC User Group President's Annual Report John Beck |
It gives me great pleasure to report that in several ways we have had an encouraging year during 1989.
During the year several of the committee members were on leave of absence for extended holidays, or overseas on business. This increased the workload for those remaining, and has made us realise that a committee of four executive officers and five committee members is too small to cater for an organisation in the order of 3500 members. Consequently a notice of motion to increase the number of committee members from five to ten will be tabled at the annual meeting. For the ensuing years an assistant for each executive will be encouraged to become accustomed to the duties, so that a stand-in is available to cover contingencies. This will stand in good stead for when the office bearer needs a break, or retires from his or her office.
Several new SIGs have been formed during the year, and of interest is the number of new regional SIGs. As promised at the early part of the year I have managed to attend inaugural regional SIG meetings, and most of the existing regional SIGs. The ones not visited are scheduled for a visit before the end of the year. Of interest at these visits is learning what the regions expect of the Group, and how the Group can help the SIGs. It has been the practice when attending the established SIGs to take a copy of the library, and make programs available for review, also to sell PD disks, and blank disks.
As usual we were present at the PC Exhibition in the Exhibition Buildings. It was gratifying to have help on the stand from many members several of whom had come in from country areas. It was also great to meet and have a chat with many of them. Several other exhibitors have offered space, at no charge, in their promotions. Due to lack of volunteers, and in one case close proximity to the PC-89 show we were unable to take advantage of a free stand.
Some of our monthly meetings were in a jeopardy due to sickness or late advice that speakers were not available. We were fortunate to obtain substitutes at the last minute, and we thank them sincerely for responding on very short notice.
The two major expenses of the Group are the cost of publishing PC Update and administration. When the net cost of these two activities are deducted from the revenue from subscriptions, there is only $6623 left for any other services to members. This illustrates that the increase in subscription of $5 made last year at the annual meeting was a necessary action. These two items are being addressed in order to reduce them. In the first case, more advertisements are being sought, and in the second, increase of efficiency. PC Update is considered to be the best User Group magazine in the Southern Hemisphere and the Committee intend to keep it that way. It is a periodical to be proud of and feedback from members indicate that in itself it is worth the annual subscription. The investment in equipment per member has reduced, but cash reserves per member have increased slightly.
There has been some difficulty in the relocation of the Bulletin Board to the office, but thanks to the efforts of Colin McCauley, Doug Brooke and Maurice Halkier it is up and running albeit on one line only, but that will be remedied soon.
I am disappointed at the response to the training courses which had been organised. The number of courses was not great, but several had to be cancelled due to lack of registrations. Recourse was taken to promote courses run by the various ITEC groups. If we organise a group of ten entrants we obtain a commission which is passed on to members. From the questions raised to the various help facilities there are many members who would benefit from a training course.
The Public Domain Library has grown considerably, and most months there has been a listing of new disks. Although some commercial outlets sell disks at lower price we are the only ones who guarantee our programs, and if they do not run we obtain a replacement at source or give a credit or refund. Also the programs are updated, and additional ones added to fill a disk to give better value. There is no additional charge to join the library as with the commercial enter-prises.
The objective of the Melb PC User Group is to promote interaction of people involved in the use of personal computers both at home and in the work environment. There should be 'What can I do for the Group' as much as 'What can the Group do for me'. I recommend the article by Brett Chapman on 'Getting the best from your membership'. A thought for the future is, I have learned something about computers and computing, probably from the good offices of some patient person, so how can I show gratitude by doing the same.
In conclusion I wish to thank all committee members, SIG co-ordinators,
trainers, BBS sysop, editorial team, and administrative people for their support during the year. Without
their help the running of the Group would not be possible.
Reprinted from the November 1989 issue of PC Update, the
magazine of Melbourne PC User Group, Australia
