From: Melvin Weekley
[mlweekle@cox.net]
Sent: Sunday, August 19, 2007 4:32
PM
To: mweekley@apcug.net
Subject: APCUG - NOOZ for August 2007
Hello Region 9 User Groups,
Hope your summer has gone well. I am certainly enjoying mine with the grandkids out of school. I get to see them a lot.
This edition of NOOZ is sent to the President, Vice President, Director, Secretary, Treasurer, APCUG Representative, Newsletter Editor, Webmaster, Membership and Program Chairs of each APCUG-member User Group.
We urge you to share the information in NOOZ by including it in your newsletter, posting it on your Web site, or e-mailing it to members of your group.
In this edition of NOOZ:
1. Raincoast 2008 Conference
2. Jay Ferron, New President of the APCUG
3. 2008 Annual Convention
4. Fundraising Ideas
5. Regional Events
6. Peachpit User Group Program
7. Mindshare User Group Program
8. Presentation Ideas
1. Raincoast 2008 Conference. Planning is underway for the Raincoast Conference for 2008, to be held the first weekend of October 2008, beginning Friday night the 2nd and going through the 4th in the Seattle/Tacoma area. Raincoast needs your help to make this user group conference a reality? This is your opportunity to help put together a conference in the Northwest that is open to Windows, Mac and Linux user groups. Volunteers do not need to live in the Seattle/Tacoma area. Vendor presentations, workshops, and a vendor fair are just some of the activities planned for the conference. Committee chairs, co-chairs, and committee members are needed to make the this conference happen. One critical need is for a Chairperson for Sponsors/Vendor and start building the relationships necessary for the success of this event. Please contact MarilynnmR@aol.com and let her know what you can do to help.
2. Jay Ferron, President. At an Executive Session of the Board of Directors in July, Jay Ferron, Vice President, was appointed as President. Don Singleton was thanked for his many contributions to APCUG and remains a board member.
3. 2008 Convention. The theme is Membership Retention and Growth. Highlights and benefits planned for the 2008 event include: Jerry Awards; newsletter, website and digital photo contest awards; roundtable / educational sessions; vendor presentations; opportunities to meet vendors; meal / social events; opportunities to meet user group members from around the world; and the spouse program. Later this summer, registration information will be posted on www.apcug.net. The co-chairs may be reached at convention@apcug.net.
Don't miss the opportunity to get some recognition for your group by entering the newsletter and/or website contests. September 1 is the beginning date for you to submit your website URL and newsletters and October 15 is the last date for these contest entries. Those are also the dates for your members to submit their digital photos for that contest. The results of the contests will be announced at the annual event. The 2008 contest committee members are: Bill James ( bjames@apcug.net), Melvin Weekley (mweekley@apcug.net ), Roger Tesch (rtesch@apcug.net), Barbara Manning ( bmanning@apcug.net) and Lori Berenson (lberenson@apcug.net )
4. Fundraising Ideas. From Stu Silverman, Advisor, Region 5. Last year, Macy's raised over $9,000,000 in a single day of shopping to benefit charities across America. This year they will be having a Shop for a Cause on October 13, 2007. Each 501(c)3 UG can sell $5 passes for great discounts at Macy's. The UG gets to keep the $5 for each pass sold and the customer gets to use the discounts. For further information go to www.macys.com/charity To find your closest Macy's go to http://www1.macys.com/store/locator/index.ognc
Selling season starts this month for 2008 Entertainment discount coupon books (from Gabe Goldberg, Advisor, Region 2). Selling books is great / easy for user groups and the books are a super money saver for members, friends, family and colleagues. Discounts in 2008 books will be valid from early August 2007 through November 1, 2008. So the earlier people buy books, the more time they will have to save money. Discounts cover everything from dining to travel (hotel, car rental, air fare) dry cleaning, car repair, theater and movie tickets, etc. It's easy to save money on everyday purchases; you needn't spend extra money for 'savings.' The Capital PC User Group has sold these for many years and typically raises about $1200 each year. As the website shows, discount coupon books are available for most major North American cities. If you want your group to join, let Gabe know ( ggoldberg@apcug.net) and he will get you enrolled. http://www.entertainment.com
5. Regional Events. New this year is the APCUG Region 1 Membership & Speaker Development Symposium being put together by Sam Wexler, Region 1 Advisor. The event will be held on Wednesday, August 22 at the Home Town Buffet in Wappingers Falls NY, from 4:00 pm to 8:30 pm. The agenda includes dinner and fellowship time; a welcome to attendees and introduction of the vision for the meeting; introduction of attendees; successful membership and speaker development experiences; membership development around-the-room discussion; obtaining and developing speakers round table discussion; recap, closing message and follow-on. There will also be door prizes.
Although the majority of the 'regional' events are not sponsored by APCUG, most of the groups attending the various events are members groups. APCUG assists the events by listing the event information on www.apcug.net and by including articles in Reports and NOOZ.
Mini-Expo VI sponsored by the Chicago Computer Society . This event, Technology for Fun, will be held on Saturday, September 15, 2007 from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm at Prairie State College in Chicago Heights, Illinois. Learn and network, win free high-dollar prizes plus lunch is included – all for $15 (prior to 9/10) - $20 at the door. ATEN (Assistive Technology Exchange Network) will hold a computer drive from 8 am until noon for the drop off of old computers and equipment. The equipment will be refurbished or properly disposed of by ATEN. For more information, contact Al Cheeks, alcheeks@bigfoot.com – www.css.org
The Northwest Florida Association of Computer User Groups is holding its 2nd annual NWFACUG Expo07 on Friday, October 5. The event is held in Niceville, Florida. Contact J.B. Hillard, president of NWFACUG, for more information bay59@myway.com - http://nwfacug.org/
The Florida Association of Computer User Groups (FACUG) will hold its Fall Conference on Saturday, October 6, in Orlando, Florida, open to all computer user group members, whether or not their group is an FACUG member. Roundtable discussions, door prize drawings and a featured speaker at the luncheon – all for $25 (early bird registration ends 8/31/07) or $30 at the door. Non-FACUG member groups' registration is $35 by 8/31 or $40 at the door. There will be a pre-conference event Friday evening at PF Changs in Winter Park. For more information, contact information@facug.org
6. Peachpit User Group Program. Did you receive your PIAB from Peachpit? If your group is not a member you are really missing some terrific benefits. Each month your group is eligible for a free book (your choice) that you can use as a door prize, a volunteer thank you, put in the group's library, etc. In a recent Peachpit UG newsletter they offered their Photoshop PIAB. What fun to open the heavy box and find a Double Feature Video – The Peachpit Experience: Photoshop World Las Vegas and Macworld Conference & Expo, San Francisco 2007 – something for both APCUG's Mac and PC member groups. Also included was popcorn and M&Ms to share at the meeting, a t-shirt, three books (Adobe Indesign CS3 How-Tos, 100 Essential Techniques; Designer's Guide to Max OS X Tiger; and Understanding Adobe Photoshop – Digital Imaging Concepts and Techniques) and a mouse pad that can be used as door prizes. There was also information about iStockphoto and New Riders' Voices that Matter books with a 35% discount until 12/31/07. Of course, your members also receive a 30% discount on books they order from Peachpit – if your group is a member. usergroups@peachpit.com
7. Mindshare UG Program. Sherri Sullivan announced at the Southwest Computer UG Conference in San Diego that the Mindshare website is being redesigned. She encouraged all member groups to send an e-mail to mindshar@microsoft.com with up-to-date information about your club: Name of club and acronym, contact person, e-mail address, website address, meeting location address, and number of members. Sheri also said that groups should be on the look-out for members to be nominated for Microsoft's User Spotlight. Are you looking for meeting content? Check out the On-Demand Webcast link, as well as the Tips & Tricks at http://www.microsoft.com/windows/using/windowsvista/tipsandtricks/default.mspx
8. Presentation Ideas. Do you need presentation ideas or even presentations ready to go for your group? Go to http://www.netsquirrel.com and check out this website. This gentleman has tons of presentations already done for you. He allows you to use them as long as you give credit where credit is due. Take a look and you should easily have 2 or more programs lined up for future use. Assign them to someone in your group to do. It is an easy way for someone to get involved that hasn't before.
We always want to brag about what is going on in our groups. If you have something great going on let me know. Also, don't forget to send me copies of all of your newsletters. If I haven't been added on to your list yet please add me now. Thanks.
Melvin L. Weekley
Melvin L. Weekley
Advisor, Region 9
Assoiation of Computer User
Groups
San Diego, CA
(619) 262-5512
(619) 851-5514 Cell
(629) 262-5512 Fax
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