 The magazine of the Melbourne PC User Group Editorial Carol Daniels cad@melbpc.org.au |
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It sometimes felt as if 1999 would never arrive. Now it's February and we have a well rounded issue to start our publishing year. Not quite something for everyone, but a good mix of reviews and features, a range of topics to interest beginners to experts. Practical-minded sorts should read Bob Burt's reviews of ACT! v4 and Norton AntiVirus 5, and Bernadette Houghton's reviews of Network Associates Toolbox 2000 and McAfee Office. If you've already made the jump to Windows 98, check the review of Windows 98 Annoyances.
Bob Mayston gives us the benefit of his experiences starting and running a business. Bob's too shy to mention that he's also the author of the Quicken SIG report. (What a valuable resource that is for those using Quicken or QuickBooks.)
Regular contributors Ken Holmes and Tony Stevenson need no introduction. If you are unfamiliar with their work, give their articles a go.
Everyone will benefit from reading "Developing Client/Server Applications". Dr Noel Craske's (Monash University) students, Chris Raddle, George Baglava and Xiaoya Lin give us an explanation of Client-Server applications and highlight issues that must be considered when developing or choosing such applications. We are fortunate to have these submissions Dr Craske sends our way, bringing an extra dimension to our magazine.
All work and no play makes PC Update a heavy read, but Rob Pickford and Jenny Kwan continue to lighten the PC Update experience.
From further afield we have George Skarbek's report from the Association of PC User Groups' (APCUG) 1998 Fall Conference. George had a special interest in user group (UG) management and member relations. His report covers these issues and some of Bill Gates' insights from his evening's presentation for APCUG.
Although every UG exists in a unique environment, they share core characteristics. The problems we face are amazingly similar, maybe not so amazing when you consider they are fundamentally issues of human and organisational behaviour.
APCUG provides us an opportunity to mine the resources of other UGs (and their leaders) from around the world. They offer us a vast body of experience and ideas - even magazine articles - we can call upon when the need arises. APCUG shares our "members helping members" philosophy, although its members are UGs, not individuals.
As with most volunteer organisations, the more we participate, the more we benefit. One important lesson is that although there are no universal solutions it is rarely necessary to reinvent the wheel from scratch.
That relates to something I believe is a primary responsibility for Melb PC Committees, operating the group, for the good of the membership as a whole.
The good of the membership as a whole.
Not the good of those members:
- That agree with me
- With the same interests as mine
- With my level of technical expertise
- Who are my friends.
One resource we must conserve and nurture is volunteer involvement (their time, energy, knowledge and skills). We have no saints. Each volunteer chooses to participate based on a range of internal and external motivations. Each experience is a mix of positive and negative interactions. Each choses what, where, why and how to give.
One expected result is a level of personal satisfaction, and each of us decides what is an acceptable level of satisfaction.
I've written in these pages on more than one occasion about the word "volunteer" and how I use it not as a substitute for "amateur" to describe our group or the way we deliver services. I use "volunteer" to describe our relationship with one another.
When a volunteer relationship is abused, the effect is negative, dramatic and draining. The pleasures of volunteering are overshadowed by the demands. When that happens a volunteer must think of himself ahead of the organisation. No matter how much a volunteer respects or values Melb PC, he does not owe his fellow members his health, happiness, well being or family life.
Unfortunately a very small number of members refuse to respect this boundary.
The result is volunteer burnout. In 1999, please remember that the faces you see in PC Update, at the monthly meetings, at every Melb PC activity are volunteers. They help because they want to, not because they have to. It's up to all of us to treat them in a way that encourages them and their involvement.
Now to a very difficult announcement. Most readers will already have noticed the absence of CPU this month. I know this because CPU is always the most read of the "must read" items in our surveys.
In the main, the benefits of volunteering outweigh the expense. On a personal level it's not always so rosy. Long term exposure in a high profile position takes its toll on even the most hearty souls.
Stan Johnstone is one of those hearty souls who is respecting and responding to the need to take care of himself. His loss, as our leader is quite simply a tragedy for Melb PC. We continue to benefit from his wisdom and his continuing involvement in the group. We may even see him return as a PC Update author. But it won't be the same without him at the helm, and Melb PC will be the worse for his loss.
Thank you Stan for your years of dedicated service, your achievements are numerous and diverse, from the office relocation to personal outreach projects, every member has benefited from your leadership.
Reprinted from the February 1999 issue of PC Update, the magazine of Melbourne PC User Group, Australia
