by Tom Piper, Coordinator
Our ninth Apple World User Group University online gathering of Apple user group leaders was held at 8:00pm CST, on November 16, 2020, via Zoom. We had 23 participants who joined for the topic of maintaining “Membership Records and Renewals” plus how larger groups encourage board membership, board participation, and membership engagement. The 82-minute video can be viewed at: https://youtu.be/CXTvA410Dxo (unlisted on YouTube).
This session opened with a welcome, plus my description of how my user group (appleJAC) records finances and membership information. I also introduced Doug Smith, Chair of the Apple User Group Advisory Board (AUGAB), who monitored the Chat Room and Zoom support.
Open discussion followed with questions, answers and other information shared by many participants including:
- Carol Fortlage of the Villages Apple User Group (tvaug.org)
- Mike Kwasniak of the Suffolk Mac User Group (www.suffolkmug.co.uk)
- Eckart Goette of Naples Mac User Group (naplesmug.com)
- Nicholas Pyers of AppleUsers.org (AppleUsers.org)
- Ann MacKay of Apple Charleston User Group (charlestownappleusers.com)
- Robert Zimmerman of MacinTech (macintech.org)
- Betty Larson of Saginaw Macintosh Users Group (smug1.com)
- Dale Stephan of Mac-in-Awe Apple users group (miamug.com)
- George Brooks of Suburban Chicago Apple Users (myscau.org/)
- Martin Kelly and Craig Joppins of London Mac User Group (lmug.org.uk)
A variety of valuable links were also provided by participants including:
- • Mike Kwasniak shared introductory links about group.io:
- DIRECT ADD (Naples): https://youtu.be/cgritCP3nRY
- SEND INVITATION (Suffolk): https://youtu.be/6JSQBtBPbpE
- (go to AWUGU iCloud link below for PDF & Pages version of both)
- Tom Piper shared link to his user group’s TypePad website blog:
- Nicholas Pyers shared link to popular Mouse Droppings newsletter published by Corvallis Mac User Group — cmug.com/newsletter.html
- Eckart Goette shared NMUG’s FileMakerPro guru:
- Ed Evans (eevans1@mac.com)
- Doug Smith shared AUGAB’s member as FileMakerPro helper:
- Rex Covington (281-300-4788,rexjc@mac.com)
- Nicholas Pyers shared how to use Square to add Apple Pay:
- Craig Jobbins shared London Mac User Group new way for MUGs to engage with one another and for wider community via a Podcast in all platforms:
- Carol Fortlage shared TVAUG Q&A at 1:30 pm EST, Nov 17, and Nov 23 is 1:1 help in breakout rooms – contact her for info: cfortlage@gmail.com
- Martin Kelly shared London MUG Christmas Party 7:00pm GMT, Dec 14, contact martinkelly@mac.com for details and forms
- Tom Piper shared links about Oct. 14-15, 2020, Zoom’s recent gathering:
- Zoomtopia User Conference (zoomtopia.com)
- Poly Zoom Solutions (poly.com/us/en/solutions/platform/zoom)
An great discussion was held about suggestions for future meeting topics such as sharing presenters & presentations, joint user group meetings, pro apps for Zoom, advising new user group members about what to purchase, migrating from old Macs to new Macs, improving the iCloud experience, and best method for Zoom presentations. The AWUGU iCloud resource area is available to share past meeting information at https://www.icloud.com/iclouddrive/0kF7XwYI98VG0fqvL86PJm02g#AWUGU.
We are very pleased that this ninth meeting was extremely informative. Our next tentative meeting is scheduled for January 18, 2021, with the topic and time yet to be announced — what would you like the topic to be, and would 5:00pm Central Time work as a new start time for you? All AWUGU previous registrants will receive an invitation to all meetings.
To become a participant, any interested Apple User Group leader must first register with the AWUGU Coordinator by emailing their name, location, and user group name and web link to macquest@mac.com. Registration must be received by January 15 in order to receive a Zoom Meeting invitation (a download of the free Zoom app in advance is also necessary).
