SUN CITY COMPUTER CLUB
EXECUTIVE BOARD MEETING
N ovember 3, 2005 , 9:00 AM
CyberCenter Meeting Room
The Meeting was called to order at 9:00 AM by Gael Miller, President .
Present :
Peter Roll, Founder
Gael Miller, President
Dick Smith, Vice President
Linda Shanhouse, Treasurer
Dave Hanna, Communications Director
Don Snapp, CyberCenter Director
Peggy Uselton, Membership Director
Rex Davenport, Programs Director
Joe Razek, Training Director
Doug Willoughby, Special Interest Groups Director
Linda Walke, SecretaryAgenda Changes - none
Guests
Dick Doane – Vice President Nominee
Grady Manley, Training Director NomineeApproval of Minutes
A motion was made by Gael Miller on Oct. 10 to accept by e-vote and publish on the Computer Club web site the revised minutes of the October Board Meeting. The motion was seconded and passed by e-vote.
Financial Report
Linda Shanhouse presented the October, 2005 Financial Report. A motion was made by Gael Miller and seconded by Peggy Uselton to accept the report. The motion passed. The Financial Report will be filed for audit. The bill for the Atrium screen has not been received. The expected expenses for the remainder of the year include the costs of the annual meeting and other routine items
DISCUSSION OF DIRECTORS’ REPORTS RECEIVED BY E-MAIL
Communications, Dave Hanna
On-line Election for 2006
Everything is ready for the On-line election of Officers and Directors to serve in 2006. You may view the ballot at:
http://www.sctxcompclub.org/Policy/Ballot2006Sample.html
The on-line voting period will be from Monday, November 21 through Saturday, December 10. The results will be presented at the Annual meeting on Monday, December 12.
The procedures will be the same as last year. The content of each ballot will be sent by email to a Club address and also written to a data file on the server.
Status of CA Web portal Project
Peter Roll gave a short update on the CA's new Web portal project. The contract will be signed within the next 3 to 6 weeks. A dual system of the old set up and the new will be run, probably for 2 to 3 days, to be sure the new system is adjusted and stable.
Peter recommended that the CA charge groups that want to have their Website on the new server based upon the complexity of their site. The Computer Club will also pay a fee to the CA for their site. [The CA will administer the site and the Computer Club will not be involved in collecting fees from other groups.]
As soon as the project is finalized enough for us to gain access to the new server; we plan to load a copy of the Computer Club Website onto the server for testing purposes. The working copy of the Website will remain on the current Prismnet server until we have complete confidence that everything is working properly.
Hard Drive Problems on Cecil, L-15
Thanks to Dick Smith's help, our movie conversion PC Cecil is back in operation with the two 160 GB hard drives operating in RAID 0 configuration. It now appears that the RAID set up was not done properly when a Dell technician replaced a failed drive under warranty in June of this year. Since that time we have been unknowingly using only one of the hard drives in a non-RAID mode. Perhaps we did not really need the extra speed that RAID delivers. Dell tech support was very helpful in getting the problem resolved.
CyberCenter, Don Snapp
Don acquired a new AV cart with a lock cabinet for use in the Atrium. The booster chair for the projector and various cables will be stored in it. Pictures will be used to describe the components. A workshop will be held in the next week or so in the Atrium using the new screen for the CEO's and other members of the Executive Committee who are interested in learning the operation.
A small fan for the workroom has been acquired. The shop gets quite warm when several people are occupied with their projects. The fan’s location is still to be determined. A method of reminding workroom occupants to turn it off when they leave is still in planning. It must not run for 24/7.
The Luncheon Ticket Sales and new Memberships are off and running. Hopefully everyone will get into the swing of processing these items.
Don suggested that the process of configuring and ordering the new laptop, currently in the budget, be started immediately. This process takes time and the laptop is needed to assure smooth operations at the Monday meetings. Due to the interruptions of upcoming holidays now is the best time to begin.
Along the same lines, he also suggested we start immediately on the process of acquiring a PC with a system configuration using a mirrored system (RAID 1) to replace L19-the administration station. Currently we are in jeopardy with no back up of the workstation. Presently the data is backed up regularly but not the system. The fact that data is still presented using floppy discs will need to be addressed as some PCs are being sold with no floppy drive accommodations.
Don recommended a small task force be assigned to specify the needs for all the equipment; especially the 2 units described above. He suggested Dick Smith, Don Snapp, Peter Roll, Doug Willoughby and Dave Hanna make up the group. Gael appointed these to form the task force with Don Snapp as the chair.
As an interim solution, Dick Smith should purchase the Acronis software ($35) and acquire an additional hard drive to test and document recovery procedures. Dick Smith has tested Acronis 9 and it works well. Though an awkward solution, it will work until we can get L19 replaced. L19 will be recycled into the lab configuration when the old units are retired.
Don asked Dave if we could get an email address that could be used for purchases of hardware and software so we could get feedback from suppliers . Unfortunately a name and telephone number are typically required. A solution will be given further consideration at the Task Force meeting later this month.
Membership, Peggy Uselton
The number of club members as of October 31, 2005 1,825
The number of new members who joined in October 16
The total number of new members who have joined in 2005 487
We now have 1.07% of last year’s membership.
The decline in new members was to be expected. For the last two weeks of October, monitors advised potential new members to wait till after November 1 st and get 14 months for the price of 12. The result was that 19 new members joined in the first 2 hours on Tuesday, Nov. 1!
Peggy proposed that the following lines about “greeters” be deleted from the job description for the Membership Director:
trains, and provides guidance to a staff of assistants who function as
greeters at Monday meetings, semi-annual meetings, and social events
There will be a Reception for New Members on Tuesday, Nov. 29 from
9:30 am to 11:00 am in Meeting Rooms 3 & 4. Rex was asked to be the MC. The Executive Board will attend the reception. It was pointed out there will be a class in session during the same time.
Programs, Rex Davenport
Monday Program Calendar 2005
Nov 7: SIG
Nov 14: Buying on the Internet (Nancy Strayer)
Nov 21: Printing (Mike Shiflet)
Nov 28: Freebies (John Polich)
Dec 5: SIG – Media conversion
Dec 12: Annual Meeting
Dec 19: Netiquette (Barbara Resnick)
Dec 26: No Meeting
Please note the exchange of presenters for the dates of November 14th& 28 th from what was previously announced.
A safe and satisfactory solution to the possibility of more people attending on Mondays than can be seated in the Atrium is still being worked out.
The Program Committee will meet November 15, 4:00 PM . John Polich resigned from the committee. John Bosch will take his place.
Training, Joe Razek
October was a not a good month. The results are:
CLASS ENROLLMENTS FOR OCTOBER
Introduction to the PC 101 5
Introduction to the PC 102 Cancelled Windows 101 Introduction Cancelled
Windows 102 Files/Folders 6
Windows 103 XP Special Features 4
Introduction to Quicken 3
Digital Cameras 101 8
Photoshop 101 9
Genealogy-Compiling/Printing 10
Introduction to the Mac 3
Mac-Files/Folders 3
Mac iPhoto 3
Total 54
The only courses that filled were Genealogy-Compiling/Printing and Photoshop 101. PC 102 and Windows 101 were cancelled due to lack of students. Most other courses offered had only 3 to 5 students. This is the most dismal showing in the past two years. Where are the students?
November is more promising. The three Photoshop courses filled right away. Greeting Cards and three of the four core courses are doing OK.
On the critical list (1 or 2 students) are Power Point 101, Windows 102 and Word 101. Even worse, as of last Tuesday, no one had signed up for Digital Cameras or Mac Internet. What does it take to get more students? The MAC curriculum is being reconsidered.
Joe is aggressively recruiting new people to teach. The ideal would be to have at least two qualified instructors for each of the core courses.
Special Interest Groups, Doug Willoughby
A leader for the Hardware & Technology SIG is still being sought.
On October 4 th, an organizational meeting of the EBay SIG was held. A program committee
was formed but a leader has not yet been found. There were about 25 in attendance and 73 on the listserver list expressing interest. The group came up with many program ideas. The first meeting was held on November 2. Future meetings will be the first Wednesday at 4PM .
On October 14 th, the organizational meeting for the Website Design SIG had about15 in attendance. A program committee was formed. Equipment setup persons were named and several future program ideas were gathered. The next meeting will be on November 15 th at 1 pm in Meeting Rooms 3&4.
The procedures to do VHS tape capture and editing using Adobe Premier Elements are almost complete. Workshops are about to be scheduled.
Doug submitted for board approval the following statements of purpose for the new SIGs:
The E Bay SIG provides a forum for the exchange of information and experience about the use of the E Bay Website for personal buying and selling and other issues related to using the website. It will provide a means of educating the members in the effective use of EBay.
The Website Design SIG provides a forum for the exchange of information and experience relative to creating and maintaining personal, charter club or other non-business websites. It will provide a means of educating the members in the effective use of websites and issues related to creating non-business websites.
Don Snapp so moved. Peter Roll seconded the motion. The motion carried.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
PA system in the Atrium
A lapel microphone has been acquired for use in the Atrium. Training for usage of the unit will be scheduled later this month.
Officer nominations for 2006
A slate of candidates has been created. The announcement will be posted in the CyberCenter on November 3 rd and a copy will be delivered to the CA office at the same time.
Annual meeting table decorations giveaway
A method for giving out door prizes without having to call out numbers has been agreed upon.
Wildlife Management Committee
The Wildlife Management Committee had requested the use of the Computer Club to use while tabulating their survey. This has been completed. The results will be announced at the CA meeting on November 17 th.
NEW BUSINESS
Estimated Computer Club membership by year
By analyzing the past rate of Computer Club growth and its ratio to the number of planned houses, membership is estimated to be approximately 3,000 in 8 years. By doing the same type of calculations for attendance at Monday meetings, there may be as many as 700. The future expansion of the ballroom should be adequate. However without special considerations for visual and audio needs, there may be a problem. The Computer Club is under the Acitivies committee who will be making decisions about the fittings in the ballroom. They will be reminded of these future needs.
Position Descriptions
The members reviewed the current position descriptions. Changes that had been submitted were shown in red. They will represent the duties set out in the By-laws. Final revisions will be done at the December meeting.
OTHER BUSINESS
The next Executive Board Meeting will be 9:00 A.M. Thursday, December 1, 2005 , at the Sun City CyberCenter Meeting Room.
The meeting was adjourned at 10:50 A.M.
Linda Walke
Secretary
Date of approval: November 11, 2005
Posted: November 12, 2005