Minutes of the OPCUG Core Strategy Meeting #2 Tuesday, June 3rd 1997 141 Catherine St. Ottawa 7:45 PM - Meeting called to order PRESENT: Richard Bazinet Facilitator Bob Cross OPCUG BOD Bob Walker OPCUG BOD Bert Schopf DTP SIG Coordinator David Reeves OPCUG BOD Duncan Petrie Beginners SIG Coordinator Jean Stalker (for David Curling) Internet SIG Coordinator John Ladds (for Larry Chop) Paradox SIG Coordinator Jocelyn Doire OS/2 SIG Coordinator Bill Van Dijk OPCUG BOD ABSENT: Harald Freise OPCUG BOD Daniel Pigeon OPCUG BOD Bob Thomas Fox SIG Coordinator Chris Taylor OPCUG BOD/Windows SIG Coordinator/BBS SYSOP Mark Cayer OPCUG BOD Chris Seal OPCUG BOD/Newsletter Editor The minutes of the May 27th meeting were reviewed and accepted with two minor corrections. Richard Bazinet re-iterated the importance of the acceptance and implementation by the OPCUG board of directors of the findings of this project. A discussion was held concerning David Reeves' prioritizing of the list of the most important situations (Part 2) from the May 27th meeting. The amended list (in order of priority) is as follows: 1. lack of communication capabilities (message exchange) 2. we don't know why people join or leave 3. financial stability OK 4. lack of value in joining OPCUG if you have internet access 5. lack of interest from general membership 6. fulfillment of mission staement needs improvement 7. members can't get questions answered 8. public generally not aware of OPCUG's existance 9. short on personal networking opportunities and listing of member skills and services Bob Cross spoke on behalf of Harald Freise regarding OPCUG's possession of "TDBS" a software package add-on for the PUB which would enable a self maintaining list of member skills and services to be kept. This list could be promoted as a membership benefit. It was also expressed that this should be in our list in Part 2. It was agreed that it should be included, thus item #9 was amended to reflect this. Bill van Diijk reported that no members had responded to him to date regarding the question, "What do you think of the OPCUG?" which was posted on the PUB. Bill indicated he hopes members will respond to the same question in the newsletter which members recently received in the mail. The meeting continued with the committee members responding to the following question put forth by Richard Bazinet: Q. What should the OPCUG be in future? The following answers were received and discussed. (they are NOT in order of priority): - OPCUG should serve all levels of membership - more lead-time needed for newsletter (mailed too close to meeting date) - we need a more dynamic, efficient forum for the sharing of ideas, questions, concerns. eg. an internet newsgroup - we need a directory of internet addresses for the membership, possibly a listserver mail-list - OPCUG needs a better public profile and presence - we need an anonymous area for members to ask questions and receive answers - hands-on workshops should be held to facilitate learning - a reliable venue for all the SiGs to meet with all the resources they need available - OPCUG needs a better relationship with the Hi-tech industry. - OPCUG should provide economical services. - OPCUG needs more active membership participation - Presentations should have more variety and be more informative. Less emphasis on "gee-whiz" material - OPCUG should provide more opportunities for friendly socialization - OPCUG should try to organize field trips and tours - we need an improved vendor program - each newsletter should contain a list of OPCUG member benefits (including vendor discounts available) This should also be on other promotional material and a website. - the newsletter should provide free advertising to merchants in exchange for limited time discount offers to OPCUG members. - we should build a community outreach program eg. with the schools - OPCUG needs a well thought out website - we need more media exposure - we should invite other professional organizations to form an alliance or become members of OPCUG. eg. SOHO associations. - establish better relationship with and use resources of APCUG and its member groups more often. - we should provide a "welcoming kit" to new members (and perhaps announce new members in the newsletter/website) - we need to have a membership profile - There has to be a better and more supportive/cooperative relationship with the SiGs - we should develope a database of training resources and make it available to the membership (perhaps with member discounts on training in exchange for the advertising) Committee members should attempt to prioritize this list and send the results to the committee for revue. Richard Bazinet requested that Bob Cross seek 10 member participants from the members present at the June 4th general meeting willing to take part in a 2 hour workshop. It is important that the membership NOT be told of the conclusions of this committee to prevent bias and influence. **IMPORTANT** Also needed for this workshop are 10 non-member participants. Richard asked everyone on the committee to submit to him the name/email/phone of one non-member they know of with a computer that might be interested. Richard can be reached at rbazinet@sympatico.ca This workshop would be organized and facilitated by Richard. It would fulfill the requirement for non-biased input regarding OPCUG's current position, and "wish-list" for the clubs future. The outcome of this workshop and that of this committee can then be compared for common goals and priorities which will then be drafted into a Core Strategy action plan to be submitted to the OPCUG executive for implementation. Bob Cross thanked everyone for attending. 10:00 PM - meeting adjourned Minutes prepared by: Bob Cross 04 June 97