This is something of a significant moment, at least for me. You are looking at the electrons of the final issue of Sacra Blue for which Ken Hopkins and I are responsible.
This, I think, is our 30th issue, which equals Larry Clark's and Eric Butow's totals. Tony Barcellos, of course, holds the record, having held the position (along with several others) longer than is recommended for one's sanity.
I know I could not have done it without Ken's help. The best way to fill the editor's job is to divide the responsibilities among several persons. We only had two, but Ken provided a great deal of written and other material to fill the pages. He located humorous articles, got permission to reprint cartoons, tracked down APCUG-distributed articles, and even wrote Ken's Kompendium and the Virus-of-the-Month column until it all became too much work.
Publishing Sacra Blue is, I believe, the most difficult job(s) in any user group. At one time, when our membership was growing with every succeeding month, there were more writers turning out more material, which meant a lot of editorial time was needed to evaluate and coordinate the articles.
Looking back at older issues of the magazine makes me jealous because there was a slew of talented writers producing informative and important articles that helped our members with their computer problems. In these later issues, I spent a lot of time editing material into publishable shape, trying to persuade people to write an article, and other activities aimed at increasing the quality and quantity of material we can publish.
Of course, those editors did everything themselves— editing and layout, using PageMaker— and also dealt with the printer service since the magazine was actually printed on paper. That part I don't envy them at all.
Nowadays the editor has to put in time seeking content. I would prefer to have material written by our own members, and toward that end I asked a number of people to consider writing, whether regularly or occasionally, for Sacra Blue.
I was delighted when Tim Feldman agreed to write a column because he's a gifted writer with an easy-to-read, understandable style and a lot of knowledge. Unfortunately, he also has a real life that demands his time, and this issue carries the last column he can manage. He will continue writing the Davis Cycle, though, which is often as interesting as his columns.
Searching for an Editor
You surely know we have been seeking candidates for the editor's position (or editors' positions, for Ken and I are both editors) to carry on the magazine. It's much more difficult now because there are far fewer members, and the job is much easier with some specialized knowledge that not everyone has.
We have, fortunately, found a volunteer willing to take on the task: Brian Smither, who seems to be emulating Tony Barcellos in holding multiple positions at once. Brian is currently our Webmaster, editor of eBlue, software librarian (granted, that one doesn't require a lot of work any more), product review editor, and probably a couple more personas I missed.
It's obvious Brian's taking on a pretty large workload, and he can use all the help he can get. Mike Zellmer is considering helping on the layout portion of the job as he has extensive knowledge of PageMaker.
Their first need will be material to publish. I will be continuing my "Click Here!" column and re-starting "Adventures in Computing." Ken is considering his "Ken's Kompendium" column. But clearly much more is needed.
You Can Help
Over the last few months we've filled a lot of our pages with articles from other newsletters, which— ironically— were discovered and OCR-scanned by Brian. This source will ultimately run thin, though.
We all have experiences with our computers that other members would be interested in. We've all confronted— and solved— problems that can help enlighten other members confronting the same or similar issues.
You can provide great assistance to the group by writing up your experiences. For example, I've just installed a wireless network at home to share a cable modem. Parts of it were simple, but I'm still figuring out the security issues. That will make a future column that I suspect will be read by many members wanting to do the same.
There are, of course, a lot of openings for volunteers who want to do something meaningful. The column written by Stan Morris every month on volunteer issues can point you toward those tasks.
I hate to belabor the issue, but as the size of the group gets smaller, the number of volunteers shrinks as well, but the number of positions remain the same. Without volunteers, the group ceases to exist— I think all our members realize that.
What's Involved?
The elected officers handle the steering and direction of the group with the help of any of the volunteers who wish to participate. But it's entirely possible to volunteer a few hours a month and do something quite important for the group.
The Steering Committee, which is made up of the elected officers and anyone else who chooses to attend, meets every month on the second Wednesday— one week before the general meeting— at the Sizzler restaurant on Fulton Avenue at Cottage Way, next to the BMW dealership. You can enjoy dinner, or not (but the management wishes you to be well fed!), as you wish.
The meeting itself is just a discussion of problems and opportunities the group is confronting, and all suggestions and opinions are welcome.
I've enjoyed editing the newsletter, but I'm ready to pass on the job to someone else. I have no plans to disappear, as have many of our editors once they left the post. I'll still be contributing, as I mentioned above, and hope to see all of you at our meetings.
