President's Message

by Merle Nicholson, President, Tampa PC Users Group

We have a new year upon us, a (kind of) new officer lineup, a relocated meeting place and some acknowledgments to make.

First I would like to extend a heartfelt thanks to Connie Kincaid for serving as President for the past two years. Connie brought friendliness and perceptiveness to the job. She has changed the job description for President of TPCUG for a long time to come. Having served on the board for a year myself, I’ve observed her dedication and experience on the job, and, believe me, it has been exemplary. On behalf of the members of TPCUG: Thanks, Connie.

Wil Gobel is also leaving us as outgoing treasurer, having held the job for two years. Wil will be missed. Thanks for a job well done, Wil.

Kevan Sheridan and Jenny Lind Olin will be serving as Secretary and Treasurer, replacing myself and Wil in those positions. Kevan and Jenny have been participating on the board as past BBS Sysop and Genealogy SIG leader, respectively, for some time, so they both bring a lot of experience to the job.

Mike Hodges and Bruce Register are continuing in their positions as Vice President and Member at Large. Mike and Bruce both have the past year’s experience on the job, and Bruce has several more years as past Secretary.

Ford Bond, Larry Anders, Charles Howe, Mary Sheridan and William LaMartin have all agreed to continue as: MOSI Liaison, Librarian, Comm SIG Chairman, Programs Coordinator/BBS Sysop and Newsletter/Web Editor, respectively.

So it’s a good, experienced group of people, all fun to be with, so I know we’re going to enjoy the year at the helm.

If it seems that we’re playing musical chairs with the board positions, that would be right. What we’re actually doing is reducing our total number of board persons by two with the loss of Connie and Wil. My personal preference would be to bring in at least a couple of new people each year. It was not to be. Bruce did an excellent job pleading for other members to fill positions--with no success. So it’s on my personal agenda to take a new approach to solicit help for next year. I’ll start right now with this: The board meeting is open to all members. We meet at Reflectone at 6:00PM on the Thursday prior to the Wednesday meeting. ALL MEMBERS ARE WELCOME and NEEDED. If you think you can serve in some capacity during the following year, come to the meeting and participate, and maybe scope out your next job, or just help out. Contact Mike Hodges first to get on the Reflectone security list.

Finally, just a couple of acknowledgments; A very special thanks to Don Patzsch for conducting the HTML class and for bringing his special knowledge to each meeting and for his willingness to serve in any way he can.

MOSI, through Ford Bond, has provided the facilities without which we cannot exist. Ford came though for us and continues on our behalf.

And thanks to Mary Sheridan who has brought a renewed enthusiasm to scheduling our monthly programs. The quality of the programs is evident. She volunteered for the job when it was needed and is serving very effectively in the #1 most important job in the club. The OTHER #1 most important job is .the newsletter/web editor. William LaMartin has brought the quality of the newsletter to an all time high. William really cares deeply about the club in general and about the newsletter and web site in particular. They’re both "award winners" in my book. And not forgetting Larry Anders, whose humor, interest, experience and especially newsletter articles have been invaluable to us for many years.

Thanks, and I’ll see you at the next meeting. Merle u