MacVoices

The newest member of the Apple Campus Group Advisory Board gives her first interview, Macintosh User Groups from a Unix perspective, the first Platinum sponsors for User Group University, and why this UGU will be even better for vendors and attendees alike.

Sarah Friedlander the newest member of the Apple Campus Group Advisory Board, and Vice President of MacRIT, the User Group at the Rochester Institute of Technology, gives her first interview since being appointed, profiles her group, and what CGAB does for the campus group movement.

Brian Redman of the Lower East Side Mac Unix Users Group gives us a look at the Macintosh from a Unix perspective, talks about why he elected to adopt the user group model to service Mac Unix users, and what they do.

A new Mac film festival, a user group community icon, some thoughts on encouraging Switchers, and why there is more than one way to start a user group, no matter how old you are, vendor deals, MUGs at the O’Reilly MacOS X conference, and plenty of news are included in this edition.

Bob McLaughlin of ApplePickers tells us about his group’s recent Small Dog / ApplePickers Film Festival, how it helped bring their group together, and the decisions they made while planning the event.

Carmela Zamora-Robertson (“CZ”) of All By Myself talks about her career, and how user groups have always been part of it, her new company, and how they rely on Apple technology for everything.

Lynda Fudold of the Silicon Valley Macintosh Users Group gives some thoughts on how to attract and encourage Switchers, and why it is a good idea to do so.

Chris Wronski of The MacUsers User Group discusses why, at age 15, he wanted to found a user group and how they took the unusual path of starting out virtual and then added a community presence.

A regional user group conference, audio entertainment for your iPod, and a corporate user group are all featured in this edition, along with a review of MUG news, Macworld announcements, reminders of new and available resources, the month’s coming user group events, and a request for feedback.

Kathryn Whitacre, Chairman of the Raincoast Regional Conference discusses how the event has gone from a PC-only conference to being “platform neutral,” why it is open to more than just user group leaders, and what it takes to produce a regional event.

Foy Sperring, Sr. Vice President of Strategic Alliances for Audible talks about what is cool about Audible, why they believe in user groups and helped sponsor the User Group Leaership Conference, and how they continue to support user groups with two special programs.

Gary Cohen of the Mac Special Interest Group of The Boeing Employees Computing Society gives us our first look at a corporate user group, how it is organized, what it does, how it has endured changes in corporate culture and focus, who can attend, and why MacOS X has caused renewed corporate interest in the Mac.

(Audio not available)

This edition features MUG meeting content and ideas, an in-depth discussion of online user groups, why it is fun to get involved in Macworld Expo events, and this month’s MUG-only vendor deals.

Chris Breen of Macworld magazine discusses their latest method of Macintosh User Group support, the offering of special editions of the “Breen’s Bungalow” QuickTime video tutorials for use by individual MUGs at their meetings and in their CDs.

Sam Crutsinger of Tacky Shirt talks about his company’s first training video from both an information and entertainment standpoint, extends an offer to user groups everywhere to do a Tacky Shirt presentation via iChatAV, and gives tips on how to make it a terrific experience.

Kevin Gomez of the Corning Macintosh Users Group talks about the advantages and disadvantages of the online user group model, the fun of Macworld volunteering, and how he’s trying to have his MUG accessible from your cell phone.

(Audio not available)

We go around the world and talk with another Apple Regional Liaison Team member, a vendor from Japan, spotlight a new twist on an old MUG event, and have yet another 25th anniversary celebration with Woz.

Graeme Moffatt of the Wellington Macintosh User Group and Apple Regional Liaison Team member covering Oceania talks about what he has been doing since his RL appointment, and the response his group is having to their MovieFest 2003.

Paul Chadha of Recosoft discusses how his company, based in Japan, sees user group feedback and exposure as valuable, how they expanded the effort to the United States, and why they’ll be back supporting MUGs in San Francisco in January.

Paul Hering of the Flint Apple Club tells us about how they took the idea of a swap meet and made it something new and unique, outlines their goals for the future of the event, and shares some terrific one-liners they use to promote their group.

Rick Harrison of Apple CIDER gives us a look at his group on their 25th anniversary, why they tried (and succeeded) to get Steve Wozniak to headline the event, and delivers some thoughts on the influence the Apple co-founder has had on all of us.