DACS Board of Directors Meeting
Wednesday, February 12, 2014

By Bruce Preston

Called to Order: 7:15 PM

Attending: Richard Corzo, Jim Scheef, Andy Woodruff, Bert Goff, Lisa Leifels, Richard Teasdale, Bruce Preston
Guest: Annette van Ommeren

Minutes of Last Meeting: accepted.

Treasurer’s Report for January, 2014

Membership Report

Old Business

1. General meetings

• February 4: Jay Ferron—Windows 8.1.  Preview: Bruce Preston, Review: Joan Galligan
• March 4:  Microsoft Store representative: Xbox One and End of XP (about 45 minutes) followed by Bruce leading “What Can You Do with an Old XP Machine?” as a lead-In to the workshop.  Richard will e-mail and/or call Microsoft Store rep. to see if they can do the Xbox One presentation.  Note: Jim will not be able to do Ask DACS this month.  We have two backups.
• March 15: XP to Ubuntu Linux Workshop—Bruce Preston, David Mawdsley, Jim Ritterbusch, Sean Henderson and Charlie Bovaird will conduct.
• April 1: Android—Jeff Postolowski, WCSU. Preview: ________, Review: ________
• May 6: John Patrick—State of the Internet.  Preview: ________, Review: ________
• Possible future topics:
• We’ve started to do a “Meet the SIG” segment between the Ask DACS session and the featured presentation. We did the Mobile Devices/Windows 8 SIG in February. Others available for future months: Drupal, Web Design.
• “LifeStream” monitoring. Mike Kaltschnee mentioned FitBit (currently available at BestBuy) or other ‘wearable electronics.’ Andy spoke with Jeff Schlicht, professor of Health Promotion & Exercise at WestConn, about a possible presentation at DACS re wearable electronic devices that monitor exercise and/or body functions.  At present Jeff is not committed. Bill may have access to someone who has Google Glass, and perhaps other health-related wearable devices.  Another device – Pebble Watch
• Andy suggested a session on creating a web site of various types: blog, brochure, e-commerce site, etc. – making use of such products/services as site builder (online or on PC), turn-key sites, etc.  Andy suggested that as a computer group we should do some sort of session that would answer the question: “I think I need a web site, what are my options?”  This might involve a “high level” overview of the various approaches. Andy (and to some extent Bruce) wanted to talk about the entry level ‘turn-key’ systems where you must live within the constraints of the design, where Annette is more concerned about  “What happens if it doesn’t do what you want it to do?”  Annette and Andy will discuss creating an outline that describes at a high-level what components might be a part of a web site and the repercussions they have upon the construction of the site.  Annette and Andy do not have a presentation ready at this time.
• Lisa suggested a “decision tree” presentation – “What should I get?” – Windows or Mac, Desktop, All-in-One, Notebook, Tablet, or even SmartPhone – Android or iOS, etc. Lots of decisions - how to decide what meets your needs.  We think this would be a ‘tough’ presentation to pull off but a lively session. Bruce will concentrate on desktops, Richard Corzo will concentrate on mobile devices, Jim and Charlie will work on defining the metrics.
• Video production – putting something up on YouTube.  Vine, Instagram, etc.  Approach WestConn or Naugatuck to see if a student might do it.  Perhaps for a Senior project?  Andy is currently working on a project; he says he might be able to do it in 6 months or so.  Also “personal videos” that might be put on Twitter or Flickr.  Andy potentially could do mid-to-late summer.
• Home theater systems. Jim is in the process of assembling one, might put together a program based upon his experiences. Andy will look for an independent home theater installation company. Comparison of services such as Xfinity, CableVision, DirecTV etc. Carston Stereo might be a good prospect – Andy will talk to them. Richard will write an article on watching YouTube on TV.
• Digital cameras – higher end digital cameras.  Explanation of what they have that you don’t get in a phone, etc.  What is RAW mode, HDR, sensor size, what causes noise, etc?  Andy offered to do it – but not for March.  Jeff suggested that we might be able to get a member from Candlewood Camera Club, Bob Green is a member.
• 3D Printing – have not heard from Bill Saturno.
• Jim would like to see things like the Raspberry Pi, Arduino etc.  Jim will see if he can find a speaker, perhaps someone from Hackerspace.
• Andy suggested an overview of the "app development" process.  Discussion followed as to how it might be made interesting to general populace. 

2. Opening/filled positions

• We are looking for an “evangelist” or someone to promote DACS on Facebook beyond what we are doing now (just posting our meeting announcements). We asked for volunteers at the January general meeting.  Annette and Jim suggested that we put photos and links on the Facebook page more often, especially after meetings.

3. Bob Green is frustrated with entering membership data into CiviCRM.  Jim and Richard C. will take over this activity until such time that they have gotten the system to perform properly.   Jim must upgrade CiviCRM, having upgraded Drupal.
4. Dave Green has received a letter from our insurance carrier Zurich North America notifying us that the company providing us with small business insurance, Maryland Casualty Company will be replaced with a new one, Foremost Insurance Company.  Bert had offered to look into options.  Jim reported that he had investigated with an agency where he has a contact, and our carrier at that time was the only one offering coverage appropriate to our needs. So we just need to update our address with the insurance carrier.

Bill DeRosa gave us some feedback on our Facebook page. Do we want to make any changes in how we use it? We decided that while his suggestions may be valid they may be impractical. There isn’t enough ‘return on investment.’  Jim suggested that instead of posting articles on Facebook that we at least post links to the DACS site.  We should also continue our presence on Meetup and LinkedIn.  Richard invited people to RSVP on Meetup if they plan to attend a meeting.

New Business

1. Jim looked into changing our printer for the newsletter to Infinity Printing. Here is the information he got:
   75 copies folded to 8½ x 11 (we must fold them in half and fasten at the top and side)
   12-pages $78
   16-pages $97
   Generally, they would give us a 3-day turnaround. This is $10 less than the current cost.  Jim will discuss with Charlie and Allan to see if they object to change of printer.

2. Bert has supplied a comparison of annual expenses for 2012 and 2013. He has also offered to come up with a budget for 2014.

Adjourned: 9:30