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Our mission is to provide assistance and resources to member organizations:
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User Group News

UGLS Instructions
Please download these UGLS Instructions to learn how to update your User Group's records, so that the proper officers will receive information from APCUG.
Featured in Cleveland Business Connects Magazine
The Greater Cleveland PCUG and its SIG, the Web Development Special Interest Group Cleveland were featured in Cleveland Business Connects Magazine, distributed monthly to 20,000 businesses in Northeast Ohio. Click here to read the article
Virtual Photo SIG for August
The Virtual Digital Photo & Video SIG Meeting for August 2012 was hosted by Hewie Poplock. There were demos of several photo editing procedures use several editing programs. A recording is available at August 2012 Digital Photo SIG
Virtual Photo SIG for July
The Virtual Digital Photo & Video SIG Meeting for July 2012 was hosted by Hewie Poplock. A recording is available at July 2012 Digital Photo SIG
APCUG Advisor video interview at
Greenspring Village Computer Club
APCUG Region 2 Advisor Gabe Goldberg recently participated in an interview conducted at an APCUG member organization, the Greenspring Village Computer Club. The video was recorded and edited by Steve Gurney, Publisher of Guide to Retirement Living Sourcebook, it includes Greenspring Village residents describing their computer club's extensive activities and resources, and Gabe -- who has presented to the club many times -- describing his longstanding commitment to user groups.
Facebook Timeline & Security PPT
Greater Cleveland PCUG’s Facebook Timeline & Security PPT chosen to be on SlideShare’s homepage! “Hey GCPCUG, Congratulations! Your presentation It's Time for Facebook Timeline has been featured on SlideShare's homepage. Kudos from our editorial team for your effort. Your presentation was chosen from the thousands uploaded to SlideShare everyday from across the world. – The SlideShare Team” Facebook gurus Jim Evans and Susie Sharp helped the attendees at the meeting on January 14 sort through the newly released Facebook Timeline, a replacement for your Profile where you can decide what other users can find out about you. With Timeline, it is much easier to see everything you have done on Facebook: the good, the bad and the truly ugly. You still have some control, but it is a lot different. New menus / dropdowns / options are all over the place. Facebook calls it granular control; it can be confusing. You will find the presentation at: http://slidesha.re/AwqaEq
Good News To Share!
Seniors Computer Group in San Diego
makes 1st page of the Union Tribune
Melvin Weekly, Seniors Computer Group in San Diego, reports that there was a lot of excitement in at their meeting yesterday (October 29). An article on the SCG made the front page (PDF) of the Union Tribune newspaper and they had the largest attendance in three years. They are looking at statistics in light of this and discovered that they have done much better than they thought this year. They have received 33 new members this year and there are still two months to go. There is a lot to be said for having a PR person active on their board.
Helping Tulsa
Helping Tulsa was featured on Tulsa, Oklahoma’s, Fox 23 TV station when Don Singleton, Editor, APCUG and founder of Helping Tulsa was interviewed by Janna Clarke. The interview was over 2 hours, but it was edited down to a short clip; you can watch it here. HelpingTulsa has been refurbishing computers since 2002 and through 2008 had refurbished approximately 2,000 computers that were given to schools, churches, and non-profit agencies, Senior Citizen Centers, Tulsa Housing Authority facilities, and HUD Section 8 facilities. Read more about Helping Tulsa here.
Use Multiple Channels
to Publicize Meetings and Activities
By Gabe Goldberg, Advisor, Region 2
DC, DE, MD, NJ, VA
If you’re not using Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, MeetUp, and other online social media tools to publicize and market your user group, you’re missing out on a lot of modern “bandwidth”. Days are long gone when meeting rooms are filled just by listing events on user group calendars, supplemented by (remember these?) elaborate mailings by vendors promising star-studded presentations, company executives, and monster giveaways.

I’m an active LinkedIn user, a Twitter dabbler, and a toe-dipper in Google+; I’m still resisting Facebook.

I find LinkedIn a valuable tool for learning about events, sharing events with my network, and publicizing my own events. Here’s an article from Wayne Breitbarth’s Power Formula blog titled, “LinkedIn Helps You Fill Seats at Your Next Event”: http://bit.ly/qStoqz -- beginning “Many people have not even discovered the LinkedIn Event Application, let alone all the other features that can help them boost attention and ultimately attendance at their event. Thus, I thought I would share my best practices for using LinkedIn to promote events.” The article includes 13 Ways to Effectively Promote Your Upcoming Event Using LinkedIn.

Software Freedom Day
Software Freedom Day was September 17th and APCUG’s member group, The CPUser Group http://cpusergroup.apcug.org/ Tarentum, PA hosted a software freedom day event. Your user group could also host a software freedom day event next year. Go to http://wiki.softwarefreedomday.org/StartGuide for details on how to organize one of these events.

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APCUG News

February 23
APCUG selects the Computer Technology Conference
for its Annual Meeting.
Click for more information. The Computer Technology Conference in Scottsdale, Az is for computer users of all capabilities. If you’re an early adopter, interested in current and technology, enthusiastic supporter of consumer technology, computer club leader, member, or someone who wants to learn more about what’s available in the marketplace, then you should be at this conference.

Whether you use a PC, MAC, tablet or some other device, there will be something of interest for you. Join other users to learn more about your device. You can do way more than email and research on the Internet and we’d like to help you learn how.

Be sure to view the Conference update for February 23 by clicking here.

January 23
APCUG Reports Q1 2013
APCUG Reports issue Q1 is now available online here. It contains articles on Data Privacy Day 2013, Bring Back The Fun Into User Group Meetings, Newsletters The Heartbeat Of Your User Group, Why Drupal?, Is That Computer Ready For The Meeting?, User Groups Tips, plus various conferences, member group activities, & other APCUG information. The issue contains regional reports from ten regions. See what is happening in other User Groups around the world.
January 15
APCUG 2013 Winter Virtual Conference
Saturday February 2
Be sure to register for the APCUG 2013 Winter Virtual Conference. There are 2 tracks with the following sessions:
  • Windows 8 - Mysteries & Misconceptions Explained
  • Freeware & Shareware
  • Are We Losing This Generation's Photos?
  • How to Publicize Your User Group
  • To 'Cloud' or Not to 'Cloud', That is the Question
  • Using Your Smartphone for Everything
  • iPad Basics & a Bit More
For General Virtual Conference info Click Here
To view the schedule, session descriptions, and more info Click Here
To Register Click Here

January 15
Your Board of Directors
For 2013

January 14
The Don Singleton Volunteer of the Year
Award for 2012
To honor long time Director Don Singleton, who passed away in October 2012, APCUG has established the Don Singleton Volunteer of the Year Award. APCUG would like to announce that, Joyce Kloncz, President of Sun City Grand Computer Club in Arizona and Judi McDowell, President of the Quad-Cities Computer Society in Iowa are co- recipients of the Don Singleton Volunteer of the Year Award for 2012. Click Here for more details
October 27
2012 Fall APCUG Virtual Conference #5
Saturday November 3
Be sure to register for the 2012 APCUG Fall Virtual Conference. There are 2 tracks with the following sessions:
  • USB 3 versus USB 2 versus eSATA
  • Genealogical Research Tools in the Cloud
  • Selling on eBay
  • Windows 8…It's here!
  • Learn what is attacking your computer & how to protect it
  • Mountain Lion - The 15 Best Apps
  • How to market your group through community service
For General Virtual Conference info Click Here
To view the schedule and conference more info Click Here
To view session descriptions Click Here
To Register Click Here
October 08
Don Singleton Passed Away
Anyone who has been involved with APCUG, has worked with Don Singleton. Don passed away on Saturday from cancer. He was 69.

Don was a long time member of the APCUG Board of Director serving from 1994 to 2012. For many years, Don was the Editor of APCUG's Reports and the Webmaster. In addition, he served in various officer positions.

  • 1996 Secretary
  • 2003 Vice President
  • 2006 Vice President
  • 2006 President
  • 2007 President
  • 2008 Vice President
Don asked for contributions to the Evergreen Hospice in Tulsa. This is the hospice that has taken care of him for the past few months.

Evergreen Hospice
9916 East 43rd St., Suite E
Tulsa, OK 74146-4732
Evergreen Hospice website
Evergreen Hospice email
September 26
National Cyber Security Awareness Month
APCUG is an NCSAM (National Cyber Security Awareness Month) Champion and encourages all of its member groups to also become Champions. NCSAM is held in October to encourage people to do their part to make their online lives safe and secure. Microsoft has created videos for their Stop, Think, Connect campaign, in conjunction with NCSAM, that can be shown at user group meetings. One of them was honored by the White House and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

> Sign up as a Champion
> Resources from Microsoft
> Resources from Stay Safe Online

September 13
Don Singleton Volunteer of the Year Award Established
The Don Singleton Volunteer of the Year Award has been established by APCUG to recognize the importance of the volunteer to APCUG’s member groups. Volunteers are the backbone of APCUG and its member groups. Volunteers are what keep user groups viable. They come in all shapes, sizes, and personalities plus they all have a different reason for volunteering. There are idea people and do-it people. All user group Volunteers have this in common: their advocacy for technology and their user group. Click here for more information
August 6
Virtual Conference #4
The 2012 APCUG Summer Virtual Conference (VC#4) was held on Saturday, August 4 and a huge success. The VCs are gaining popularity with user group members and attendance is growing with each conference. The sessions are 50 minutes in length and offer attendees the opportunity to ask questions via a chat window. You will find links to the recordings and the presentation notes for the Summer 2012 Virtual Conference (VC#4) if you Click Summer 2012 Virtual Conference Information

Videos from this conference & earlier conferences can be found on APCUG’s new YouTube channel APCUG YouTube Videos .

If you have any questions or need help, please contact APCUG's Virtual Conference Committee at: virtualconferences@apcug.org

July 13
APCUG / CAMUG Regional Computer And Technology Conference
Marie Vesta, APCUG Vice President Keynotes the APCUG / CAMUG Regional Computer And Technology Conference on July 13, 2012 A recording is available: Watch the Keynote
June 12
Calendar of Events
Check out our new Calendar of Events
May 9
Third Virtual Conference (May 5)
Recordings from the Third Virtual Conference are now available, including recordings on YouTube.
February 26
Second Virtual Conference held February 25
The Second Virtual Conference was held on February 25. Click the link for handouts and recordings of each session, and don't miss Future APCUG Virtual Events
December 2
APCUG Announces New Membership Benefit
O’Reilly and APCUG have partnered to offer member groups the opportunity to have 5 ‘books’ sent to them each quarter (2 books and 3 eBook certificates). These books may be used as door prizes, a volunteer thank you, etc. The first set of books will be sent sometime in January. To take advantage of this new membership benefit, groups need to complete the Google form at http://tinyurl.com/apcug-oreilly.

Here are a few Kudos from member groups:

  • Thank you APCUG and O'Reilly. The Temecula Valley Computer User Group signed up for this amazing and generous offer and can't wait to start getting books. What a great way to learn and share information. Every group should take advantage of what APCUG brings to our technology groups! President, Dana Stallings
  • Just signed us up! Another great reason to be a member of APCUG! Jon Mazur, President, CPUser Group, PA
  • Thanks for sending the heads up on this new offer. I will follow up on it. Barbara Kreiss, Webmaster, APCUG Rep, Amador Computer User Group, CA
December 1
Election Results Announced
APCUG is pleased to announce the results of the recent election for Directors and Advisors whose terms will begin January 2012. Directors: Don Singleton, Patty Lowry and Hank Feinberg. Advisors: Gabe Goldberg, Judy Taylour, Bob Vance, Sam Wexler and Greg West. Thank you to all of the member groups that voted.
November 12
APCUG’s 1st Virtual Conference a Success!
Thank you to everyone who attended the beta test of the virtual conference. Don Singleton and Hewie Poplock spent a lot of time putting the conference together and, in my opinion, it was very successful and could very well become a part of APCUG's benefits line.
David Steward, APCUG Vice President

Congratulations to Hewie and Don for a job well done on their virtual conference. I don’t think I truly understood the magnitude of their endeavor until today after attending one of the virtual sessions. I truly believe this could be an opportunity for APCUG to reach out to their membership without any cost to the user groups. Not having to travel and spend monies for registration, hotels, and travel is definitely a plus. The opportunities are there for the taking.
Marie Vesta, Tampa Bay Computer Society

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