Elections took place at the last meeting and we have new officers. A new face has been added to the group: George Bracken was elected as Director-at-Large. I return to the Board as treasurer. I appreciate your confidence and approval of me and will strive to do my best for the club.

At the March meeting we had visitors from the Syracuse computer club [Central New York PC User Group]. President Nick Alfonsetti and I have spoken previously, and I have been in communication with Paul Fleischmann, another officer of CNYPCUG. Paul and I have been contacting vendors who might bring us new and interesting programs. The officers of both groups are dedicated individuals who work hard and endeavor to give their memberships as much assistance as possible. We’d like to offer big name vendors who, along with demonstrating a new product, will bring arm loads of goodies to give away to members. However, this is fast becoming a thing of the past. When vendors were vying for a piece of the market they were eager to demonstrate their products and offer deals or give small groups a lot of attention.

The Internet has opened up a world of information to us all; no longer do we have to wait for some vendor to bring us a product to experience that program. We merely download a working trial copy. At the end of a certain period of restriction we can opt to remove it from our computer or pay for a full version. This eliminates the need for a vendor to travel great distances bringing his product to a handful of people. Have you noticed that there aren’t really all that many new products out there? Word processors, spreadsheets, drawing packages, and a few specialized programs—but not much is new, other than updated versions of the same kind of programs.

Our world is changing and the officers of both CNY and MV are doing their best to see that our members are kept abreast of the latest technology. We are working together for the benefit of both clubs. Tim Clinehens has agreed to repeat his presentation of PC Mods at the CNYPCUG meeting on April 7. In turn, Nick has arranged for one of their presenters to come to us in June.

CNYPCUG meets on the first Monday of the month. For further information, check the link on our webpage. If you cannot attend our meeting, why not go to Syracuse and catch theirs. We’d like to make sure that both clubs benefit from a reciprocal relationship, reaching from the officers down through to the entire membership.

Members helping Members does not end at our doorstep, but rather it extends to the entire user group community.

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