Are You Willing Or Able?

by Rob Limbaugh

DACS has a few internal projects and activities coming up in the near future, as well as some long term ideas for next year. This isn’t a complete list, but these are my top four.

Resource Center Beautification
Frankly, there’s some clutter that needs to go. In mid-October we need to get the stuff that is junk out of there, move the equipment around, and have it set up for people to use machines already on site. That said, we need volunteers in the following capacity:

• Junk needs to go to the junkyard. This will require a couple vehicles with cargo space. Vehicle needs to be able to use the Danbury dump.
• The Resource Center desperately needs a vacuum cleaner that can actually vacuum. We currently have two second-hand vacuums that just don’t cut it, and we don’t need a third. We need one volunteer to be willing to splurge on a bagless one (Wal-Mart sells a decent Bissell for under $60). Obviously, this is to help keep the place clean. If you can help in this regard, please let us know ahead of time (we wouldn’t want to wind up with thirty new vacuum cleaners!)
• Someone handy with basic carpentry to fix any loose paneling or broken cabinetry that cannot be easily replaced.
• A few hundred feet of leftover Cat5 cabling. This is so we can actually network some workstations in the Resource Center.
• A better waste management system. The little trashcan is not big enough for when people forget to empty it. We would also need appropriate sized trash bags.
• People willing to help move things around

The goal is to have everything set before the Holiday season comes around and well before the snow flies. Monetary donations for these efforts will be given a receipt for tax purposes. Cleanup date to be announced--will be a Saturday and/or Sunday in the 2nd half of October.

Need A “Windows SIG” Leader
We have a “Linux SIG” and a “Mac SIG”. Need I say more? This should have a little bit of everything about Windows… how to use it, different programs and suites for it, how to tailor the desktop, connect printers, create presentations, build a personal database, etc. It should be about how to get mileage out of the machine and use it as a powerful tool or toy. A potential leader doesn’t have to be an expert in Windows. If you’re interested in leading such a group, please step forward! Meeting date to be determined by “Windows SIG Leader”.

2008 DACS Annual Summer Picnic
DACS has, according to what information I’ve been told, over 20 years old. We need an annual picnic. This needs a coordinator for the planning and reservations. Do we have any volunteers to be “2008 DACS Annual Picnic Coordinator?” Picnic date to be determined, but I’m voting for sometime in the summer.

DACS 2008 Member Cookbook
Perhaps this is a bit fanciful, but why not have a cookbook? Wouldn’t it be cool if we can collectively make a DACS Cookbook where the proceeds could go to a charity? Is anyone up to the challenge? This could be a great fall/winter publication and may lend well for the gift giving season.

If any of these projects interests you, and you’d like to contribute or help with these projects or anything else, please send an email to ‘dacsprez@dacs.org’.

Thanks!