 The magazine of the Melbourne PC User Group PC (President's Comments) George Skarbek gskarbek@melbpc.org.au |
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Monthly Meeting Update
Support for the Monash venue is increasing with 500 members attending the June meeting. The July meeting
will also be at Monash, then the remainder of the meetings for this year will be at Parkville. Committee will
decide on where the meetings will be held next year. No decision will be made until August and a dual
location compromise is possible.
At the time of going to print the (Monash) theatre we will use in July is not finalised, but it will be
close to the Alexander Theatre. Details will be posted on the Web at
http://www.melbpc.org.au by the time you are reading this and members who use melbpc.org.au as
their ISP will be notified by e-mail several days prior to the meeting. Any member who uses another ISP and
wishes to receive e-mail notifications of monthly events or other occasional, important group messages can do
so by subscribing to the mailinfo List.
Simply send an e-mail message to mailinfo@melbpc.org.au. Make
the message subject subscribe and leave everything else blank.
Library
We have purchased new books for the library. These include the latest books on Windows XP, digital imaging
and cameras, scanning techniques, Internet, FrontPage, Photoshop, Access and repairing computers. Follow the
link from the MOTD page or see
http://www.melbpc.org.au/library/ for the full list and descriptions.
These books may be borrowed by any member for one month. As some books in the past have not been returned
for long periods, there will be a $5 deposit required on these books which will be handed back to you on the
return of the book.
Ringwood Swap Meet
There is a new swap meet starting at Ringwood on 30 June, then the third Sunday of each month. Melb PC has a
stand at all of the swap meets, manned by volunteers, and these members are responsible for recruiting many
of our new members.
Several hundred new members have been signed up in the past year directly from the application forms handed
out at the swap meets. Many more have joined simply as a result of our presence. For members who have not
attended a swap meet I suggest this is something to do. It's an interesting spectacle where you can purchase
computer equipment and supplies relatively cheaply. You might even consider assisting for two or three hours
on the Melb PC stand.
If any members would like to offer their services for a few hours on a Sunday, for the Ringwood or for any
other meeting once a month, then please contact our swap meeting coordinator, David King at theking@melbpc.org.au. The more volunteers we have, the lower the workload
on all. Volunteers for other swap meet locations are always welcome.
In Distress?
The group has a First Aid phone line for members who have some computer related problem and don't know where
to obtain help. As with most other group services this is manned by volunteers and we need a few more members
to volunteer to assist in this activity. Members are required for Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays and you
can volunteer for one day a week or one day a month. If you are away on holidays, someone else can stand in
for you.
The conditions are not strenuous. The line is operational between 10 am and 3 pm and the callers will be
transferred to you. Your phone number is never given out. The majority of the calls you will be able to
redirect to someone else. Many calls are for the Internet and often your job will just be to inform the
caller how to contact the iHelp team. Many others can be passed on to those who help with specific topics (as
listed in the Dial Help pages). You don't have to be a whiz kid; only basic computer knowledge and a
smattering of people skills are required to perform this job.
Next Monthly Meeting
Wednesday 3 July 2002, at 7:00 pm
This meeting will be at Monash University, Clayton but the actual theatre is not known at the time of this
issue going to press. Details will be on the Web by the time you are reading this.
Have you been to a monthly meeting yet? You don't know what you're missing. There's information and fun,
entertainment and many prizes plus opportunities to socialise and meet other members. The meetings always
begin with the Random Access session your chance to ask the experts, and you will need your membership card
to be eligible for the raffle prizes.
Reprinted from the July 2002
issue of PC Update, the magazine of Melbourne PC User Group, Australia
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