Event Schedule

 
 

 


2008 APCUG Convention Schedule

 

 

 

THURSDAY – JANUARY 3

8 am – 11 pm


Hospitality Suite / Microsoft Lounge / Newsletter Exchange - Capri 102

8 am – 11 pm

Photo Gallery – Capri 105

12 – 5 pm

Registry open – West Registration Desk

4 – 5 pm

First Time Attendee Session – Grande A

5:30 – 6 pm

Welcome Event – Grande A

7:30 – 10 pm

Kickoff Social – Top of the Riv – South

 

FRIDAY – JANUARY 4

7 am – 5:30 pm

Registry open – West Registration Desk

8 am – 11 pm

Microsoft Lounge / Hospitality Suite – Capri 102

8 am – 11 pm

Photo Gallery – Capri 105

7:30 – 9:30 am

Pinnacle Breakfast – Grande A

 

Capri 107

User Group Dev

Capri 108

Tech Sessions

Capri 109

 

Capri 110

 

9:45 – 11 am

How to Increase Membership, Interest and Speakers in your User Group – Sam Wexler

Fight Spam – Put yourself in the drivers seat with FireTrust’s MailWasher Pro – Birl Smith – Firetrust

Finding and Retaining Volunteers – Gabe Goldberg

Tech Soup – Jay Ferron

11:15 am – 12:30 pm

Program Chairs When Things Go Wrong – Cheryl Wester and Doris Collins

Creating a Podcast, Composing, and Remixing Music with Acoustica Mixcraft 4 – Dan GoldStein, Acoustica

 

How to Create a (PowerPoint) Presentation in 60 Minutes – Hank Feinberg

ZoomText Lite: High Resolution Screen Magnification for Everyone – Scott Moore, Ai Squared

12:45 – 2:45 pm

APCUG Meet Your Advisor Luncheon

Keynote Speaker, Dwight Silverman: “Running Windows on Your Mac”– Grande A

3 – 4 pm

Vendors Q&A Forum - Grande A

6:30 – 9:30 pm

Vendor Fair– Grande E & F
Photo Contest awards

 

 

 


SATURDAY – JANUARY 5

9 am – 12 pm

Registry open – West Registration Desk

 

8 am – 11 pm

Microsoft Vista Lounge/ Hospitality Suite - Capri 102

 

8 am – 11 pm

Photo Gallery – Capri 105

 

7:30 – 9:30 am

Corel Breakfast – Grande A

 

 

Capri 107

Capri 108

Capri 109

Capri 110

9:45 – 11 am

Working with Other UGs on a Common Project – Gabe Goldberg

PC ReNew – Hank Feinberg

Stump the PowerPoint Expert – Kathy Jacobs

Virtual Technologies (VMware / Virtual PC) – Dennis Courtney

11:15 am – 12:30 pm

How to Create a Win-Win-Win Partnership with Vendors – Linda Moore

 Verbatim: Where's Your Stuff Storage Going?– Andy Marken

Cyber Security – Ira Wilsker

Marketing Your User Group Using Search Engines – Ash Nallawalla

12:45 – 2:45 pm

Raxco Lunch – Grande A

Presentation: How to Increase System Performance by Getting a Better Understanding of Windows NTFS File Systems

3 – 4:15 pm

Ai Squared: ZoomText Lite: High Resolution Screen Magnification for Everyone – Scott Moore

Reallusion: Making Movies Like a Rock Star: Creating Animation and Avatars for Movies, Blogs and Websites – John Martin II

How to Set Up a Secure Home Wireless Network – Tom Jones

Trend Micro – David Perry

4:30 – 5:45 pm

 How to Create a Successful Product Review Program – Linda Moore

 Project X – Jay Ferron

Moving from Online Contacts to Real-Life Friends – Kathy Jacobs & Betsy Weber

 Identity Theft – Ira Wilsker

6 – 8 pm

Microsoft Dinner – Grande A

8:30 – 10 pm

Friends of APCUG – Grande C & D

 

 

 

 

SUNDAY JANUARY 6

 

Registry and Photo Gallery Closed                                        

8 am – 2 pm

Microsoft Lounge  / Hospitality Suite - Capri 102

7:30 – 9:30am

AMD Breakfast – Grande A

9:45 – 11:15am

APCUG Annual Meeting – Grande C & D

Jerry Awards Presentation
Final Prize Giveaways & Wrap-up

 


 

Educational Sessions

 
 

 

 


FRIDAY, January 4th

How to Increase Membership, Interest and Speakers in your User Group

Presented by Sam Wexler, Valencia Falls CC

 

This roundtable will discuss proven techniques that have been successfully used by APCUG member groups to increase membership, interest and speakers in their User Groups.  If your User Group has a need for more members and interesting meetings then this roundtable is for you.

 

 

Fight Spam – Put yourself in the drivers seat with FireTrust’s MailWasher Pro

Presented by Birl Smith, Firetrust

 

Birl Smith will be demonstrating the consumer version of FireTrust’s MailWasher Pro, the leader in spam blocker software.  MailWasher is a spam blocker which allows preview screening before e-mail arrives in your personal inbox.  Multiple accounts can be screened simultaneously.  MailWasher will import your e-mail account list and your friends list to get off to a fast start.  Create your own custom filters or select from prepared filters. It’s quick, fast and effective. Be sure and check out MailWasher’s Recycle Bin benefits.

 

Every APCUG Convention attendee will receive a free copy of MailWasher Pro, version 6.1. This is the only software package that I am aware of where you purchase it once, and you get FREE updates for the life of the software.

 

 

Finding and Retaining Volunteers

Presented by Gabe Goldberg

 

Most user groups around the world struggle to recruit, train, motivate, and retain enough qualified volunteers to fulfill their community service missions and goals. Participants in this roundtable will share ideas, reports on what works and what doesn't, and tips on preventing volunteer burnout.

 

This roundtable will draw heavily on popular sessions conducted by Steve Peyrot at past APCUG conventions. In the APCUG spirit of "user groups helping user groups", join us to share your user group's experience with staffing volunteer positions. Together we can avoid having the most

common name on user group rosters being "Vacant".

 

 

Tech Soup

Presented by Jay Ferron

 

Description TBA

 

Program Chairs: When Things Go Wrong

Presented by Doris Collins & Cheryl Wester

 

Right before the meeting you get a phone call – the speaker is not able to attend – now what?  Attend the APCUG roundtable on problems such as this and come away with several ideas on what to do. We will have a few ideas and through discussion we'll come up with several more. Who knows – we might come up with so many that you don't even need to worry about finding a speaker!

 

This is a must-go-to roundtable. Please encourage at least one officer from your group to attend this valuable workshop. Be prepared with your "horror stories" and what you were able to do to run a successful meeting. We look forward to seeing many of you-remember you don't have to be a program chair to attend.

 

 

Creating a Podcast, Composing, and Remixing Music with Acoustica Mixcraft 4

Presented by Dan Goldstein, Acoustica

 

Ever wanted to create and publish your own Podcast, record your own songs, or remix your favorite music?  In the past, these may have seemed like insurmountable challenges, requiring thousands of dollars in software and equipment, a record deal, and a million dollar recording contract.  But Acoustica's Mixcraft 4 turns your computer into an incredibly powerful, easy to use recording studio, and you will be amazed by its seemingly endless capabilities and low cost.  With its huge loop, music bed, and sound effects library, you'll have everything you need to record and produce your own podcasts.  With its multitrack recording features, you can easily record you entire band and create the next platinum album.  With its high quality plug-in effects, you can add finishing touches and realistic processing to your music.  With its powerful automatic remixing tools, you can create party jams that seamlessly flow from one song to another.  And with Mixcraft 4's new Virtual Instrument support and unbelievable professional instrument collection, you can turn your computer into an entire music production facility with the addition of a simple, inexpensive USB music keyboard.  You won't believe how easy it is to get started -- try Mixcraft 4 for free and unleash your creativity!

 

 

How to Create a (PowerPoint) Presentation in 60 Minutes (...and give one)

Presented by Hank Feinberg

 

If you ever have had a speaker cancel or needed to put a presentation together that is timely and interesting you need to attend this session. Learn how to quickly research a topic, build the “Skeleton” of the presentation and put the “ Meat “ or content on the bones in around 60 minutes using Microsoft Word and PowerPoint and the Internet.

 

What is a good presentation? Hone your public speaking skills by learning a few tricks and facts about presentations that keep people involved, attention spans and yes even generate audience participation.  When you attend you will be given a list of resources and about 20 pages of information on great presentations and public speaking ideas. If you attend you might even win a prize. This presentation is guaranteed to knock you off your seats.

 

 

ZoomText Lite –High Resolution Screen Magnification for Everyone

Presented by Scott Moore, Ai Squared

 

ZoomText Lite is a simple and affordable screen magnifier designed for individuals with early vision loss – you know, those of us who squint at the computer screen and lean in to read the fine print.  ZoomText Lite solves this problem by providing a gentle boost of magnification (up to 2 times) so that everything on the screen is a little larger and easier to read.  You can also adjust the size and color of the mouse pointer and text cursor so they’re easier to find and follow, and adjust screen colors for reduced glare and greatly improved clarity of text and graphics.  Come and see how ZoomText Lite can help you.

 

 

SATURDAY, January 5th

Working with Other UGs on a Common Project

Presented by Gabe Goldberg

 

There's strength in numbers; that's one reason we've all joined user groups. Even so, some opportunities require more resources than an individual group has available. Rather than letting these mega-opportunities escape, consider partnering or collaborating with nearby user groups for various reasons: organize a large regional event, conduct a coordinated computer refurbishing/recycling effort, deliver enhanced community support, lure a major vendor to visitor an enlarged audience, whatever works for you and your community's user groups. Think large or small, tailor efforts to local needs, don't feel you must imitate something others have done. Cooperating can be a one-time event or can lead to an ongoing relationship among kindred groups.

 

PC ReNew - a Win Win Program Presented by Hank Feinberg

 

PC ReNew is a computer refurbishing program that helps needy people better empower their lives. Learn how to start a program in your club that gets your membership involved and brings in new members and helps your community. It is designed to raise public awareness of your club and increase the education of the proper disposal of computers by giving them a second life. It is a strong reason to promote who you are and what your group has to offer.

 

Hank will tell you everything you need to know to start, train, organize and run your own PC ReNew community program. He will discuss working with the government, legal and insurance issues, building your workshop, storage, work flow and operating procedures. He also will talk about the special needs of the disabled, legal licensing and identity theft. He will share all the build specifications, forms used to track requests and orders, promotional ideas and discuss some of the ways to motivate club members to become more involved.

If you are a group that refurbishes or want to learn how easy this program is to implement and increase your membership please attend. Your participation is welcomed. 

 

 

Stump the PowerPoint Expert

Presented by Kathy Jacobs, Microsoft PowerPoint MVP

 

Your job, should you accept it, is to stump the PowerPoint expert. Kathy Jacobs, resident PowerPoint expert, will take your PowerPoint questions live during this session. She will take any PowerPoint question thrown at her. If she can’t answer your question, she will point you to a resource that can. You will come out of this session with PowerPoint abilities beyond your wildest dreams. Kathy will be taking questions on PowerPoint 2003 and 2007 – come prepared to make her work!

 

 

Virtual Technologies (VMware / Virtual PC) Presented by Dennis K. Courtney, CPCUG

 

Virtualization is one of the most exciting technologies today.  In this session you will learn how to set up a new virtual PC, how to virtualize an existing PC and how to make them exchange data with the host PC across a virtual network.  We will look at both the virtualization software and some tools to make virtualization easier.  Products from both Microsoft and VMware will be demonstrated (and they’re all FREE!).

 

 

How to Create a Win-Win-Win Partnership with Vendors Presented by Linda Moore

 

What is a Win-Win-Win Partnership? That is where the vendor wins, the user group wins and the members of your user group win. Developing this winning partnership includes not only tips for having exciting programs but also tips for increasing your user group ranking with the various search engines.

 

Verbatim: Where's Your Stuff Storage Going?

Presented by Andy Marken

 

Does it feel like you're living on your compute