John Crow: President
I feel a little like I am back in grade school and the teacher has just given out the first assignment of the year. The assignment that will set the tone for the rest of the year-perhaps years-to come. The assignment that will determine how the teacher and everyone else will think about you.
This assignment asks a combination of questions: What do you believe in? What are you willing to do to support what you believe? And, What do you want to be when you grow up?
This assignment is indeed a weighty matter, one that cannot be taken lightly. A leadership position in one of the largest PC user groups in the country. A group that has the potential to guide the computer industry, and perhaps the entire nation, by ensuring that the industry and our representatives in the state and federal legislatures know how we feel about the technology issues that concern us.
Beyond the larger issues are the day-to-day operations of the Sacramento PC Users Group. Issues such as what the group stands for today, or tomorrow; where the group wants to go in the future; what services members need; what the group can do to help meet those needs; and, perhaps most important, how the group can be of benefit to the community at large.
All of these questions, and all of the potential, can be expressed in one simple phrase: the ACTIVE members. The ACTIVE members control where the group is today and decide where the group will go in the future. The ACTIVE membership speaks to the Industry and to legislators. As an ACTIVE group, all members can speak together with a positive, strong, and unified voice.
A single voice may end up as little more than an unknown footnote in an obscure missive compiled by an unknown clerk. But as many voices speaking in unison, we, the group, can and will be heard. The group, representing thousands of active members, can affect how privacy, content, security, and propriety issues are dealt with. An active membership in an active group can have a voice in how laws are written. How you want "SPAM" to get "fried," is one issue we can have a voice in. We can also have a voice in how software is written or in what hardware is really needed or manufactured.
It has been said that it takes a community to do what is needed. We are a community that represents an even larger community. We, the active membership, take upon ourselves the mantle of leadership for and in our community every day. So the questions still stand.
Following are my answers to the questions I posed in the first paragraph:
- What do you believe in?
- I believe in an ACTIVE, COMMITTED MEMBERSHIP. Active being the operative word. I believe what I have written about the responsibilities and abilities of this users group.
- What are you willing to do to support what you believe?
- I have put in much time and effort to help those who joined and asked for help at the Beginners SIG. I am putting out my own time and effort to make the SPCUG's finances go further and I will continue to do so. I will try to help the group grow and become more widely known in our community. I will try to get ALL members to take active and positive roles in the group.
- What do you want to be when you grow up?
- I want to fulfill every young persons dream. I want to make a difference.
I want to be ... PRESIDENT!
President of the SPCUG!
Tim Cardozo: President
I am willing to do my part as President, should I be elected to that office, to make the changes we need to make to turn around our financial situation-to get our cash flow out of the red. This doesn't mean I'm in favor of cutting into the bone. It does mean I'll work through our elected and appointed officers to tighten up on our overhead costs and to raise additional income.
At the same time I know we can expand into new avenues to get our message out and to provide increased value to both our members and the community at large. Our "PC Jamboree" events are an example of this kind of expansion and I'll support more efforts like them. I also think we've just scratched the surface of what we can do working with Sacramento Access Cable.
If you have any thoughts on this or other ideas of how we can improve SPCUG for everyone, please make them known. Our Steering Committee meetings are open to everyone, not just officers, so, if you want to help, join us.
Come to our March General Meeting, listen to the candidates' short (hopefully) speeches, and vote for our new officers.
Vote for me, Tim Cardozo, for President of the Sacramento PC Users Group.
Tom Anderson: Vice President
Many of you know me. I've been a member for 13 years or so, and I've served as shareware librarian, treasurer and currently as book review editor. I'll keep this short, because I don't feel you need a lot of information to make your decisions.
I'm running for Vice President because we as a group are facing a crisis that threatens our survival. If we are to continue as a group, we must find ways to keep providing meaningful information to members.
We need your help in this. We have to have your active feedback, your ideas and your opinions. We, the officers and volunteers, are providing the work to bring you the group you want, but we need to know when we succeed and when we miss the mark.
We'd like you to take an active role, but we realize that many of you can't. Your comments, however, can be extremely valuable in reshaping the SPCUG. Let us know what you like and don't like, what makes the group valuable to you and what could just as well be omitted. We'll do our best to keep providing interesting meetings and the information you need to maximize your computer usage.
I'm Tom Anderson. I'm running for Vice President and I ask for your vote.
Don Frieze: Treasurer
I took Chuck Benward's place as Treasurer when he left for lands unknown (Pennsylvania), and was elected to the position in April 1999.
I was responsible for the preparation of the corporate nonprofit tax returns for the fiscal years 1992-93 through 1998-99. (We had been behind in filing income tax returns.) I have been attending Steering Committee meetings for about a year and a half and I have participated in both PC Jamborees, Biz-Tech and the SPCUG volunteer event with the KVIE auction.
I would be honored to continue as the organization's treasurer and would appreciate your support.
