Sarasota PC Monitor

President's Notes (09/11)

President's Message
SPCUG –A Value if there ever was one
by Phil Sorrentino
Member of the Sarasota Personal Computer Users Group, Inc.

Membership in SPCUG is one of the best values Sarasota has to offer. Unfortunately, sometimes it also seems to be the best kept secret in Sarasota. This is a little like preaching to the choir, because most of you who are reading this are probably very aware of this great value. It’s the people who are not currently members and who don’t have the Monitor to read that we would like to appeal to. But, those of you who are reading this are the best chance we have of getting our value to be known. One way you can help is to take some of the “SPCUG Business Cards” away with you on meeting night. There is usually a stack of the cards available at the Sign-in desk every meeting night. Bring them home and pass them out to your friends, relatives and associates. Most people, now-a-days, have a computer at home and anyone with a computer can benefit from membership in SPCUG. The Monitor subscription alone is far more valuable than the price of membership, and there’s Members Helping Members, and the Yahoo Group in addition.

Besides the Monitor, much of the value in SPCUG comes from the extraordinary educational opportunities available to its members. The extensive spring and fall semester education class schedules provide opportunities for new users to take advantage of our three basic classes, which amounts to 18 hours of hands-on basic computer training. For more experienced computer users, there is an extensive list of computer and technology topics, many of which are taught in hands-on computer labs. And talking about value, all of these educational opportunities are included in the SPCUG membership dues. Equivalent classes at local educational facilities could cost ten times the annual SPCUG membership dues.

But Wait, there’s more! The monthly meeting main presentation is always an educational opportunity. It is typically a presentation by a computer hardware/software/service-provider to discuss various timely and relevant technical topics. And besides the main presentation, held in the main auditorium, there are educational forums being held in classrooms around the main auditorium. These forums are additional educational opportunities. The topics for these forums currently include Digital Photography, Windows Vista, Open Office, Photoshop Elements, Tech Support, and Web Page Design. Each of the forum leaders is a person with expert knowledge in the subject. Much of the knowledge available at these forums could not be found at any other educational facilities, at any cost. The information and education available to SPCUG members certainly makes SPCUG membership dues one of the best values in Sarasota. :

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Copyright 2009. This article is from the November 2009 issue of the Sarasota PC Monitor, the official monthly publication of the Sarasota Personal Computer Users Group, Inc., P.O. Box 15889, Sarasota, FL 34277-1889. Permission to reprint is granted only to other non-profit computer user groups, provided proper credit is given to the author and our publication. We would appreciate receiving a copy of the publication the reprint appears in, please send to above address, Attn: Editor. For further information about our group, email: admin@spcug.org//  Web: http://www.spcug.org/ 

The Sarasota Personal Computer Users Group, Inc. has 1,100+ members and was established in 1982. We are members of the Assoc. of PC User Groups (APCUG), the Florida Assoc. of PC Users Groups, Inc., and we are members of the America Online Ambassador Program.

See http://www.spcug.org  for all reviews from the Sarasota PC Monitor, go to the Newsletter Section.