This will be my last page of Pres Said. I think that two years as President is the term which is probably an equitable period. It is quite a responsibility in an organisation as large as ours. There is also quite a large commitment of time, provided of course that you are conscientious in the performance of the duties which go with the office. However I am not intending to drop out of the Groups "workforce". 

Unfortunately David Owen has to relinquish the position of Secretary after four years, due to pressure of work. It will be a loss of considerable ability and dedication to the Group. He requested a volunteer to take over his duties for the last three months of his term, but as no-one was willing, he agreed to hang on until the December meeting. The Vice President was disquieted as Secretaries are hard to find, so I decided to offer my services in that capacity. David is thanked for the service he has given, and without his active involvement many things would not have been done.

PC Update 

In the last issue of PC Update Ash Nallawalla advised that he is relinquishing the editorship to take up other activities. Ash has spent a lot of time and energy in the production of the magazine. When there was insufficient copy to fill the current issue he found articles from all sorts of places. The editors job is time consuming especially near the deadline for printing, consequently at that period all else must be put to one side. As a Group we thank Ash for the time and effort he has put into PC Update, and a lot of the remarks in the Survey are testimony to how you regard the magazine. We trust Ash will find his alternative hobbies rewarding.

Random Access 

To George Skarbek a thank you for running the Random Access section at the start of the meeting. That gave me a breathing space to unload the PD library and set it up in the foyer, and also to greet the speakers for the meeting. Generally there are some things to discuss with them before they begin their talk or demonstration.

BBS 

I had a request from the BBS assistant sysop to suggest that members check the address label on PC Update to see if their name is incorrectly spelled. If it is then it will not match the spelling when you access the BBS, in which case you will only have visitor status. Please notify any error on the address label to the Admin Officer for correction, as this data is printed directly from the membership database.

PD Library 

Now that a copy of the PD library is in the office it is important to make sure that your address is on the order form and is complete. Also it is essential that the correct disk number is given. The Admin Officer is not an expert in PD software. At present the copying of disks is organised by the PD SIG conveners who have a good knowledge of what is in the library, or how to find the appropriate disk.

New Members 

Since PC90 we have gained many new users, and they are swelling our ranks all the time. There is plenty of scope for assisting them in the initial mysteries of computing whether it is business oriented or as a general hobby. It would be good to have New User SIGs on different nights and different localities. Ours is a self help group. What can YOU do to help other users and also yourself? There is great satisfaction in being involved. If you made a suggestion in the survey that something would be a useful activity, why not help to start it. In the initial period everyone is feeling their way, so if it starts with a few hiccups who cares, it will sort out in time.

Membership Survey 

Elsewhere is a summary from Leon Cohen on the remarks from the survey forms. Some of the things suggested are not practical but many are, and they will be investigated and where possible implemented progressively. Many requested training, especially for beginners. Enquiries are underway to find venues away from the City, as several ladies have stated they will not venture there in the evening. If there are any other reasons for not taking advantage of our courses when you feel in need of training please let us know. Next year we will embark on scheduling training courses well in advance of their starting date. Also workshops at weekends and during daytime will be considered. Manpower will be required, so volunteers will be required. There are many suggestions on what you would like in PC Update. These have been noted and action will be taken to obtain the type of articles requested.

An Offer for Members 

I had a call from David Looke from Microway who has offered a special deal to members of the Group on a programmer's editor called Multi Edit version 5.0. There are two levels available. The basic one retails at $196 and is offered to members at $120, the deluxe package with a comprehensive comms module, spelling checker and macro debugger retails for $350 and is offered at $210. It is a comprehensive editor and all features can be configured as the user requires within the program on the fly, and the configurations saved to file as defaults. 

It has been a privilege and a pleasure being the President of the User Group for the past two years. I wish to thank all the people who have helped to make the Group what it is today. The SIG co-ordinators, the trainers, sysops, contributors to the magazine, and the workers on the committee, and any other helpers, but not least, all the members. A happy Christmas to all of you and may 1991 be a better Year for you.

Reprinted from the December 1990 issue of PC Update, the magazine of Melbourne PC User Group, Australia

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