President Frank Leonard opened the meeting by welcoming new attendees and preparing us for a live phone conference from Comdex. Ken Hopkins, Meeting Coordinator, who was at Comdex, told Frank he had a surprise for us. Frank joked that maybe Bill himself was going to come and visit us.
Frank then brought up a more sobering topic. As the Steering Committee minutes in Sacra Blue have long noted, our user group has lost an average of $727 every month for the past eight months. The officers are very concerned about our financial health because the club coffers are down considerably. Frank lauded the "outrageously good leadership over the last ten years, folks like Tony Barcellos, Larry Clark and others too numerous to mention." They had the foresight to put surpluses into a money market, so we have money stashed away, but come about 2002, Frank predicted we'll be meeting in a phone booth. Publishing Sacra Blue is our biggest expense. Most members are aware that we cut back on the newsletter and raised the dues, but we are still having financial problems.
If you have an interest in the future of the group and any ideas, Frank requested that you air them on the listserv (instructions for joining can be found on the "General Information" page of Sacra Blue), or voice them in person at the Steering Committee meetings on the second Wednesday of every month (6:30-8:30 p.m. at Sizzler Restaurant, 2030 Fulton Ave). We will discuss this pressing issue again at upcoming meetings and would entertain any ideas that you might have. "Anything that's legal," Frank deadpanned.
In response to a question about the size of meeting hall we would need, Frank replied that 200 seats is plenty, based on average attendance at the General Meetings for the last year. We're considering auditoriums, schools or anything of that nature. If you know of a meeting room that would house 200 people, contact Frank or come to a Steering Committee meeting. Noting that Sacra Blue has been late for the past two months, Frank then took a quick poll of the audience and found that a few members are still not getting their issues by the General Meeting. He and the Editor, Chris Graillat, worked with Commerce Printing to get the issue out early this time. Frank reminded everyone that the readers' survey is in the November issue. If you did not turn one in yet, Chris will have copies at the December meeting to fill out, or you can email copies to her at chrisngraham@jps.net.
Stacey Wong of AI Metrix, a software company in El Dorado Hills, then come to the microphone to let everyone know her company is looking for a Visual Basic instructor and a C++ programmer. AI Metrix is a telecom management software company. For employment information, contact Stacey at 933-5797.
As if on cue, we received the "hot call" from Ken at Comdex. Ken introduced the speakers for the evening and told the audience that Howard Butler of Executive Software was coming in December to show us disk utilities for Windows NT and Windows 2000. Speakers for the computer-controlled telescopes fell through, but Ken was able to find a replacement speaker at Comdex-none other than Microsoft, who will show us Windows 2000. Ken figured that since they didn't show it at the Xtreme event, it's time we got to see the program. But will Bill come after all?
