Have you ever wanted to try your hand at writing? Here’s your chance! The group’s Sacra Blue and eBlue newsletters are looking for writers—news writers, technical writers, report writers, events writers. No need to already be a writer, just give it an honest effort and you can learn on the job. You will be a writer in no time! This is your time to "tell it like it is"!

I will admit to having written a couple of articles myself, and not doing much writing previously, still found it a very enjoyable experience. Try checking out our "Writing for Sacra Blue" on the eBlue Web site for details and notes on how to submit your article. Or, if this won’t work, contact one of our Supervising Editors. Tom Anderson or Ken Hopkins will help you, if you want that personal e-mail touch.

Volunteers in Action
One of our group’s members came up with an idea for increased exposure in the area of Internet Access education and support, the re-establishment of an Online SIG. We needed help. We needed someone to put together a plan, to bring it to the Steering Committee for approval, and to set up the SIG and run it. I put the word out, and Doug Hohn, Chuck Harris, and Peter Robinson answered the call.

Doug showed up at the Steering Committee with the information needed, and the Committee approved the new Online SIG. Look forward to updates on the Listserve or at the general meetings and, if you can help out, see Doug about the details.

Tim Cardozo has volunteered to help Milt Hull with the SPCUG e-mail forwarding system by entering the 600+ e-mail addresses into the new program. Milt has already spent a great deal of time on this project and will appreciate Tim’s help, I’m sure. Don Frieze, our Treasurer, is working on a new project for us and will be ordering 50 CDs for a group surprise that will be announced soon.

Volunteer Thanks
Ron Lambert has been setting up his personal computer in the lobby at the general meetings for months now. This was to gather e-mail addresses to be placed on the NX server (our old sacpcug.org system). Many of you entered your names and e-mails so Milt Hull could develop a first.lastname@ e-mail system for the entire group. This was a huge task, and is still in progress at this time. Thank you, Ron and Milt, for a lot of behind-the-scenes hard work and dedication.

Volunteer Openings
Please take a look at the following volunteer openings. If you think you can help, contact the "contact person" for that position, or e-mail Stan.

1. The group is in great need of transcription persons for the general meeting. That involves listening to tapes and typing up everything that was said or done at the general meeting. Terry Naleway did this for years without a complaint, at least that I heard. Dennis Solheim has been doing it for several months. Despite great dedication on both their parts, it often takes more than just a couple of volunteers to transcribe on a regular basis. This is so important to the reader of Sacra Blue and eBlue. Please help. Contact: Tom Anderson.

2. We need several volunteers who will visit as many computer stores as possible on a monthly basis, and ask them to have our membership information available to their customers. If we could get into the big stores like Frys, CompUSA, and Computer Warehouse, we would probably get a lot of coverage. Other big computer sellers include office stores like OfficeMax, Staples, and Office Depot. Also, include electronic stores like Good Guys, Circuit City, Best Buys, and even Radio Shack. Then the other computer-specific stores like the Gateway stores and all the mom-and-pop computer stores. Contact: Ken Hopkins.

3. An additional volunteer(s) will be needed to do the research on area computer stores for an "area guide to computer stores" booklet. We would want to know the name of the store, all of their locations in the area (and phone numbers), the product lines they carry, and any additional stuff we think of, including a consultant section in the guide as well. This would be updated and published periodically as a PDF. This would be a handy resource for everyone. We could sell ad space in this publication, but not require it for entry. We would create a form for the volunteer or the store to fill out. Contact: Ken Hopkins.

4. More newsletter writers are needed for Sacra Blue and eBlue. You would be writing tips for a tips column (may also be used as filler). Also would write news articles about current events. Evaluate hardware and/or software and write product reviews, and write stories on how to you solved some computer problem. Contact: Ken Hopkins.

I am sure you will find this volunteer work very rewarding and it could even create some interesting opportunities for you. You may be surprised how little time is involved in some of these positions.