MacVoices

In its fourth year, You Don’t Know Mac is billed as the annual state-wide Mac trivia contest, but it is much more than that. Steve Welsh and his team have created a regional event that encourages involvement by all the Macintosh User Groups in Oregon, features celebrity guests and includes a MUG Leaders’ Summit. Steve talks about how YDKM is organized, announces this year’s guest host, how they involve both local and national vendors in the event, how the contest is organized and why he hopes it will inspire other MUGs to organize similar events.

David Roemer wears many hats in the user group community: the former president of the Apple Student Core @ Emory, one of the architects of that school’s iMovie Night, intern to the User Group Program at Apple and member of the User Group Advisory Board. David joins us to make a special announcement about a new Apple initiative involving campus user groups, a new resource for that type of group coming from Apple, and how these groups are growing, evolving and integrating into the larger MUG commmunity.

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Yuan-Yuan talks about the upcoming Apple Expo in Paris, her own group of 2000 Mac users in Switzerland, how MacOS 10.2 is being viewed in Europe, the challenges of dealing with vendors due to language differences, and more. A look at a very busy month on the MUG Event Calendar concludes this edition.You can read additionl information on the happenings in Central Europe from Yuan-Yuan in The MUG Center’s Apple Regional Liaison Report section.

We talk with Rose Lynn of Gold Coast Mac and Michael Rogers of The Atlanta PC Users Group

A new regional user group leadership conference takes center stage in this edition of the User Group Report. The Southeast Regional Conference will be held on September 13 – 15 in Atlanta and will feature a substantial presence by MUG leaders. Rose Lynn tells us about what kind of seminars and events are featured, and why any user group leader of any platform would benefit by attending. Michael Rogers talks about why his group decided to host a regional conference, why they are including all platforms, and some very interesting observations about Macintosh User Groups from the point of view of a PC user group leader. An introduction to The MUG Center’s new Vendor’s Voice section and the very special first article finishes off this edition.

There is a larger world of user group activities and functions that many MUGs are only now starting to recognize. Regional events conducted by user groups of many platforms are perfect places for MUGs to exhibit…not only to get their word out, but to expose Windows users to a better alternative. Apple-Dayton is doing just that by participating in Computerfest in Dayton, an annual event which brings in 20,000 – 30,000 attendees. David Thomas talks about all the offerings at Computfest, what part their group plays, how their group functions as a Special Interest Group of a larger, multi-platform organization and some ambitious plans for next year’s event. (8/12)