Number 219 - August 2001

UPDATE
Many-pronged Membership Drive Strikes Again     What works and what doesn't in attracting new members has always been somewhat of a mystery to us. We are a relatively small group and every new member is important to us. (We are quick to add that you "old" members are important too!) We use several different approaches to attract new members, including:     1. A blurb in the Tacoma News Tribune Sound Life section, Home and Garden Calendar - Home/Hobbies on the Saturday before the next meeting.     2. "Add a member add a month" which adds a free month to your membership renewal date for each new member you bring in and take credit for.     3. Gift Certificate program allows you to give a gift membership to a friend or family member at a one-time reduced rate,     4. Extra copy (or two) of the newsletter for you hand out to a prospective new member. If you need more, ask!     5. Extra copies delivered to the library where we meet, - for pick up by the general public, and extra copies to our President and Vice-president to hand out to clients and students.     6. A placard placed in the Library lobby announcing our monthly meeting and pointing to the meeting room..     No. 6 paid off this month! We welcome new member Roy W Fuller who, while visiting the library, was made aware of our group meeting by the placard in the lobby. Access Magazine Out of Print Temporarily?     Computer-related Access Magazine, which was included as in insert in the Sunday Edition of the Tacoma News Tribune for some time, has temporarily ceased publication. In the meantime, the articles and features of the magazine are still available at www.accessmagazine.com. The following notice appears on that website:     "Access Magazine has suspended publication due to the continuing uncertainty in the economy.     "Efforts led by the Access management team are underway to attract new financing in the hope of being able to resume publishing at some point in the near future; however,as of now, the last issue of the magazine was June 10.     "The editors of Access magazine have enjoyed serving you every week, and appreciate the overwhelming support of our readers. We hope to be back very soon."	October Meeting Date Restored     Through good work by VP/Program Chairman Dave Rowe, the October meeting date has been restored to the usual second Monday date and time. Website Cartoon     In case you haven't noticed when you visited the website recently, through the largesse of Ken Nash, the cartoonist, and APCUG we carry a computer-related cartoon each month in the online version of the newsletter under Humor. Due to copyright restrictions we can't print it in the printed newsletter. Southwest User Group Conference     reported by Rick Chapaman, Tacoma Open Group     While dozing at my computer I received an email from our President, Ray Mills, asking me to represent the club at the 8th Annual Southwest User Group Conference in San Diego. Since I am the only club member that lives in San Diego I was the logical choice.     So on a bright sunny day, I put my golf clubs in the closet and wandered down to the local Hilton to spend the weekend with 300 computer enthusiasts from 60 user groups. The Club had entered the newsletter and web page contests. The bad news is that we did not win in either contest. The good news is that I got to spend the weekend with some very knowledgeable people who know a lot about running computer clubs, which was the focus of the meeting. I spent three days learning about every facet of managing, promoting, organizing, and managing a user group while enjoying 5 free meals provided by some of the 60 vendors who also attend the meeting. I especially enjoyed the Saturday night vendor faire where such companies as Adobe, Corel and Microsoft showed off their products. The freebees were overwhelming and chicken fajitas outstanding.     During the meeting the attendees could attend 19 workshops with titles such as "Growing Your User Group", "Publicity", "Officer & Website Liability", "Media Workshop", "Online Newsletters", "Webmaster's Forum", etc. In addition at every meal there was a vendor presentation regarding how to better your club. The vendors were very generous and informative.     Next year will be the 9th annual meeting. If you get an opportunity to go, take it.     Did I mention that they had a free hospitality suite?     A few views of the conference floor can be viewed by clicking here - Rick Chapman
Number 219 - August 2001