User Group Survey: 30 – 40 Years of Delights and Surprises

appleIn a little over a two weeks Apple will have its 40th anniversary. Whenever you stepped into the Apple stream, something amazing was happening. The survey found groups who were there from the start (sometimes a little before) and one group that had Andy Herzfeld and Woz as founding members! AUSOM noted that they currently have over 600 members: 62 members who have had continual membership since they joined in the 1980s. And 145 who joined in the 1990s.

Here are groups who have been meeting continuously for 30 to 40 years. Wow! (more…)

User Group Survey: 20 – 30 Years of Fun and Friendship

apple In a little over a two weeks Apple will have its 40th anniversary. Whenever you stepped into the Apple stream, something amazing was happening. An amazing variety of groups responded to our survey, from the Netherlands to Australia, and from folk who had been continuous members for more than 40 years to founders who started their groups 7 years ago.

Here are groups who have been meeting continuously for more than 20 years. Congrats! (more…)

Fun: Four Vintage Computer Festival Events

Have you attended a Vintage Computer Festival? Each Festival is family-friendly and offers a hands-on exhibition hall where you can see and try computers from the 1960s-1980s. Add in keynote lectures, technical classes, special attractions and each is an unforgettable experience.

From April 2016 through September 2016. there are four festivals planned. Is there one near you? 

April 2-3, Atlanta region
VCF Southeast (more…)

February’s Featured Vendor: Flexibits

flexibits_logo
Michael Simmons and Kent Sutherland are the team who create Flexibits products, apps that are flexible and enjoyable. Their popular Fantastical 2 is a smart, convenient and flexible calendar that uses natural language processes for creating new calendars and provides a CalDAV engine for adding your iCloud, Google, and Yahoo calendars (and others). Their Chatology helps users find their chats instantly.  What sets Flexibits apart? A major focus of Flexibits products is removing frustration, making users lives better and more productive. 

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Apple Anniversary: 40 Years of Delights and Surprises

appleIn a little over a month Apple will have its 40th anniversary. You may be a long-time fan who remembers that first Apple I or even the Lisa. Perhaps your first Apple was a Mac Plus or an LC II. Whenever you stepped into the Apple stream, something amazing was happening. In 1976 the Apple II had color graphics and there was that marvelous VisiCalc. Later, the WYSIWYG interface opened up a new world for those of us enduring the challenges of DOS a command line interface. By 1985 you could combine the Apple LaserWriter with Adobe’s PageMaker and become a desktop publisher.

While the Macintosh Portable was more luggable than portable, those 1991 PowerBooks running System 7 were a joy. Over the years, your first PDA might have been a Newton, you might have photos from your first Apple Quick Take, or you may have even had a device that ran the PiPP!N platform, but when that first iMac DV and iMovie came along, it was amazing, letting home users record and edit video without the need of expensive video equipment and years of training. Logic, iDVD, Final Cut Pro, and GarageBand weren’t far behind and each gave creatives new ways to create. By 2001 we had iTunes, Apple Stores and iPods; it is hard to remember how revolutionary the iPod was in a world of boom boxes and cassette players now that the world uses iTunes for everything from music releases to podcasts to iOS apps and everything in between. In 2008? we met the iPhone and haven’t looked back. What about 2010? We got the iPad, and Apple just kept on inventing. Today we have the Apple Watch and entire feature movies filmed on iPhones.  (more…)

Apple Anniversary: 40 Years of Community


usergroupgang2A little over 40 years ago Apple changed our lives, and probably changed yours as well. Officers and members often talk about the user group community, and outsiders are confused: What community? How can you be friends with someone you have never met face to face? What can you truly have in common with a person from halfway around the world? Still, people such as Amaya in Spain, Graeme in New Zealand, Graham in the UK, Nicholas in Australia, Rick in Myrtle Beach, Lynn in Tulsa, Chise in Japan and so many more bring our community to life. Some user groups did not start out as Apple groups. For example, one of my first groups started out as a HAM radio club and later became an Apple group. Others started when that first Apple found its way to their hearts. Still others started because of the first Mac or creative endeavors.

How old is your group? Does your group have members who have been involved for many years? Be sure to participate in this month’s survey.

User Group Anniversary Survey

Survey: Looking for the Oldest User Groups and Members

woz-and-jobs-working-on-the-apple-ii-in-their-garage-in-mountain-view-claifornia-1-january-1976-pic-apple-computerHas your group been meeting for many years? Does your group have a member or members who have participated for an amazingly long time? In light of this year’s 40th Apple anniversary, we are looking for long-standing groups and long-time members, so that we can feature these groups and members in the March edition of Apple’s User Group Bulletin and the Apple User Group Resources blog.

Your group may have started in 1976 with the first Apple, or it may have started in the ’60s as a computer enthusiast club or a technology group. Maybe yours was a Heath Kit chapter or an amateur radio club in the ’50s? Perhaps your group began as a creative pro group in the 1990s. Let us know. 

User Group Anniversary Survey

Survey closes on March 12 and is limited to the first 100 responses.

Nicholas Pyers Presents: Working with Presenters After the Event

Nicholas Pyers of AppleUsers.org offers the fourth installment of his Dealing with Presenters series. While the first article covered Approaching Potential Presenters, the second offered tips for Confirming Presenters, and the third talked about Working with Presenters On the Night, the fourth, Working with Presenters After the Event, is especially interesting because it explains what your group should do after the presentation. As he notes, most groups do not engage in these important actions – actions that can can have an important effect on your group’s relationship with current and potential presenters.

Check it out!

http://www.appleusers.org/ugr/working-with-presenters-after-the-event/

Meeting Ideas: Everything changes with iPad

Need a presentation for your group’s next meeting? Ask your group’s ambassador about Apple Sales Web (ASW) and Apple Sales Training Online (ASTO). From prepackaged demos to Apple materials that you can use to create customized presentations, ASW and ASTO have it all.

This month, take a look at the “Everything changes with iPad” campaign, highlighting how iPad—together with incredible apps from the App Store—can change the way users can do what’s important to them every day. Go to ASW and click on the Quick Training button to see what’s on offer.

Topics include:

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