 The magazine of the Melbourne PC User Group CPU (Club President's Update) Charles Wright charles@melbpc.org.au |
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This is, I regret to say the last time I'll be addressing you as president. Over the past few months I've found it increasingly difficult to cope with the burdens of leadership of a large and pretty robust group, while at the same time editing The Age's computer section. A couple of weeks ago, having done a stocktake of my energy levels and my sense of humour, I was forced to the conclusion that one job or the other had to go. I hope you'll forgive me for opting for the better-paying one.
I'm pleased to report that I'm leaving the group in very capable hands. Your new president, Colin Lovitt, has already shown his enthusiasm and energy for Melb PC, and his experience as an administrator of public organisations is far greater than my own. I don't think we should necessarily hold it against him that one of those bodies is the Carlton Football Social Club.
Colin is in the happy position of having behind him the most experienced, active - perhaps I should say workaholic - committee that I've had the pleasure of working with. There aren't enough of them, and they desperately need reinforcement, but they are an outstanding resource for the group. Fortunately for me, they've made your ex-president look a good deal more capable than he was, in that period, beginning just less than a year ago, when he took on the job.
At that point we were about to report a $100,000 loss for the financial year, and we were still suffering from the last echoes of what were noisy, bitter divisions. We'd tried to sort out what was frankly a financial mess, we'd made some major investments in various areas of the club, and we were hoping, with not a little anxiety, that they were going to pay off. There was no shortage of critics who were predicting not only that they would not pay off, but that we'd been totally irresponsible in even considering them. I'm sure you'll recall the accusations just before the last annual general meeting: We were hiding the facts from the members, we were trying to run the group like a business, rather than a club, we had wasted money on a business plan, we were financially inept and irresponsible, etc, etc, etc.
Some of us, yours truly among them, had served on a committee in the preceding year that had been so memorably characterised by the three-man interim body who'd held the fort after that period of internecine warfare, so far behind us now: "They couldn't run a chook raffle." I think this committee has proved, fellow members, that it can run a hell of a chook raffle.
The last complete figures that are available as I write this report, are for February. In that month we made a net profit of $6056. That means we've trimmed the year-to-date losses to a total of just $1779. That's not a bad turn-around from a $100,000 loss. The same trend continued in the first couple of weeks of March. In fact we're on track to making a small profit for the financial year, despite the fact that we've invested tens of thousands of dollars to boost members' facilities.
I don't believe, incidentally, that we should ever in future make any more than a small profit. In my view we should plough our funds back into continually updating the group's resources. In the next financial year, for instance, more funds must be allocated to increasing the number of lines on the BBS and the Internet. If we don't do that, but instead try to accumulate reserves, the membership will rightly feel exploited, and the club will once again become moribund.
Nothing could be less moribund than today's Melb PC. Your magazine is bigger and better, and it attracts more advertising, so that it has become less of a drain on our finances. Our training fees have been slashed, but the number of members taking our courses has jumped, to the point that those expensive computers we bought are now starting to pay their way. We've started to hire out the training room. The shareware sales that were once the financial backbone of the group have continued to fall away, but we've established alternative income sources.
We're about to start our Internet service. In my opinion it will prove ultimately to rival the magazine and the BBS as the most valuable member resource.
Our monthly meetings continue to improve in value and vitality.
Companies that were hardly aware of our existence are giving us tremendous support, and donating expensive facilities.
The BBS that was once regarded very much as an also-ran in the electronic community is now attracting both widespread admiration and a flood of new members. Free shareware has never been more available, with our vastly improved access, and CD-ROM service, and the message areas are exploding.
My radar detects a strong feeling of unity and satisfaction among the members. The divisions have largely disappeared. Melb PC is once again a great club to belong to, and the best value for money in the computing world.
There are things that remain to be done. That plan still hasn't been completed - the one we had was largely inside my head - but I know Colin has taken personal responsibility for its conclusion over the next few weeks. My proposal to sell discounted computer books through the club still lacks sufficient volunteers to get it off the ground. The marketing survey has not yet been undertaken. But I have learned that most things take a lot longer to get going, when you're working with volunteers.
I want to express my gratitude to all those who threw their weight behind my vision for the group. If I can claim anything for my presidency it was that I was opinionated enough to have a view of where the group could go, and how it might grow. I acknowledge that it wasn't exclusively mine. I'd formulated that vision over five years of work on a succession of our committees, and the people I served with, including some of those who might not always have agreed with me, taught me a lot.
Five years is a long time for anyone to be involved in the running of a group, and in many ways I believe it was time for me to step aside. The hardest thing for a leader is knowing when to stop leading. I hope my timing hasn't been too abrupt.
I sincerely hope that my departure will leave the way open for those who may have been alienated by my policies or my personality to once again become involved
in our activities. It's inevitable, if you have to turn a ship around, that you're going to stir up some deep waters. I couldn't think of a better man than Colin to smooth them. As for the future, I look forward to being able to enjoy the club facilities as a member, and to renewing my friendships and building new ones within the group. And from time to time, if needed, I'll be there to offer whatever help I can. Indeed it might benefit the group if our rules were adjusted, so that the past president has some recognised role. Thanks for an absorbing and rewarding five years. My sincere best wishes for the future.
Reprinted from the April 1994 issue of PC Update, the magazine of Melbourne PC User Group, Australia
