 The magazine of the Melbourne PC User Group CPU (Club President's Update) Morris Tobias morrist@melbpc.org.au |
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I am proud to be a member of Melb PC, and even prouder that the Committee have elected me to the position of President following the resignation of Stan Johnstone. Proud, because Melb PC is a group worth more than can be counted merely in fixed assets and bank balances. Melb PC is not all about profit and loss and balance sheets. Our biggest assets are our members. People like you.
The group was started some 15 years ago by a handful of enthusiasts with the ethos "Users helping users", and for the majority of us, it still is. It saddens me to hear some say they can't get involved with the group because they don't know enough about computers. We all started somewhere. We all brought the big box home, plugged it in and showed it off. We all made mistakes so silly we would probably never admit to making. We all learnt at our own pace.
No matter how little you think you know about computers, there is always someone who knows less than you, and that someone else may only need a little confidence or hand-holding. Reaching out to help a fellow member can be a great way of making new friends, and will improve your own confidence no end. Not to mention the good feeling of knowing you have helped.
Without involvement of members, all community groups eventually dry up, so think about what you, a user, could do to help other users.
Welcome back
The resignation of Stan Johnstone left a casual vacancy on the Committee. After an absence from active duties with the group for a couple of years, Melb PC's favorite QC, Colin Lovitt has rejoined the Committee. Colin was appointed at the January meeting, and has stepped into the breach of Vice-President. Good to see you back on board, Colin.
Big boots to fill
This is one of the most over-used phrases in the English language. It is often used inappropriately, exaggerating the prowess of a recently departed popular figure. In our case, there is no exaggeration, the statement could not be more true.
Stan Johnstone joined the Committee of Management in 1994, became Secretary in 1995, and President in December 1996. In every position, he contributed far more time and effort than could have reasonably been expected from any one person. He organised presentations for monthly meetings--no mean task when you realise how forgetful some of the presenters are and find yourself having only a couple of days to arrange a replacement. He painstakingly built up an impressive contact list within the computer industry, and has secured many donations of hardware and software both for member give-aways at monthly meetings and for our own internal use.
Stan also established the very popular Orientation Days, where members have a guided tour of the office, and has been instrumental on our Internet administration team, working many long hours both in the office and at home.
Perhaps the greatest contribution Stan made was in the period leading up to our move from Albert Road to Dorcas Street. Most of us couldn't begin to appreciate the size of this task, where everything from positioning of partitioning to deciding the colour of paint in the toilets had to be decided, organised, and of course checked for accuracy. An acquaintance in the building industry told me that had we paid someone to do all the tasks, including the role of Project Manager, that Stan took on, the cost would have been in the tens of thousands of dollars.
Three years ago, I very clearly remember Stan telling me he had bought a job lot of sandpaper to prepare his exterior walls for painting. Perhaps now he will be able to find the time to do it.
We all owe a huge debt to Stan, he steered the group through its biggest stage of expansion, and his boots are indeed very big.
Internet
We are constantly striving to bring more features to subscribers without any increase in cost! One of the problems with limited access is for those big file downloads which could potentially take more than two hours. Due to very popular demand, additional Internet access is now being trailed. This is described fully by George Skarbek elsewhere in this issue. Night owls will be able to surf to their hearts' content!
Another improvement is that mail box limits have been doubled to 8 MB - great news for those who are unable to check for mail as regularly as they would like.
I am confident that these plans being trailed at the moment and others we have in mind for the future will provide our members with the best value for money anywhere in Australia.
Monthly meeting
Do you attend our monthly meetings at the Pharmacy College? As I write this column, I am reflecting on the success of the February meeting. We had two particularly good presentations - one from Mike Iampietro from Pinnacle Systems who showed us some exciting developments in the video editing field. Also worthy of mention is Stephen Skok from Free Up Down Under, who gave us all an incredible insight to potential problems we can encounter every day with intellectual property and copyright issues.
Monthly meetings are always worth attending. We have great raffle prizes, a variety of presentations and, most importantly, you get a chance to meet other like-minded people.
Meetings are held on the first Wednesday of each month (except January) at the Pharmacy College, Royal Parade, Parkville, and members and visitors alike are very welcome.
Reprinted from the March 1999 issue of PC Update, the magazine of Melbourne PC User Group, Australia
