DACS Board of Directors Meeting
Wednesday, March 5, 2014

By Bruce Preston

Called to Order:  7:15

Attending: Richard Corzo, Dick Gingras, Lisa Leifels, Bruce Preston, Bill Saturno, Jim Scheef, Richard Teasdale, Andy Woodruff
Guest: Charles Bovaird

Minutes of Last Meeting: Accepted.

Treasurer’s Report for February, 2014

                         
New Business

1. Annual officer elections for Secretary, Treasurer, President.
• Bert Geoff has agreed to be Treasurer for one year.
• Bruce Preston has agreed to extend his term as Secretary for one more year.
• Dick Gingras has agreed to be President for one year.

Old Business

1. General meetings
• March 4: Xbox One and End of XP—Microsoft Store. Preview: Richard Corzo, Review: Richard Teasdale. (Note: Bruce filled in for Jim to do Ask DACS.)
• April 1: Android—Jeff Postolowski, WCSU. Preview: Richard Corzo, 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. Annette will do Web Design in May. Available for future months: Drupal.
• "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 Saturno may have access to someone who has Google Glass and someone who has an Oculus Rift (virtual reality headset).   Another possible device that can be covered is the 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 SiteBuilder (online or on PC), turnkey 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 'turnkey' 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.
• 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, or short personal videos on 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 potentially could do a presentation mid-to-late summer.
• Home theater systems. Jim is in the process of assembling one and might be able to 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 wrote a newsletter 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.  Jim suggested that we might be able to get a member from Candlewood Camera Club. Bob Green is a member.
• 3D Printing – Bill Saturno may be able to come up with a speaker for this topic.
• 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 last month followed as to how it might be made interesting to general populace. We did mobile app development (iOS and Android) in November 2012.
2. Workshop
• March 15: XP to Ubuntu Linux Workshop—Bruce Preston, David Mawdsley, Jim Ritterbusch, Sean Henderson.  Preview: Bruce Preston, Review: ________
3. Bob Green has become very frustrated with trying to use CiviCRM to maintain our membership data and then generating his sign-in sheets for members and visitors to the general meeting. He is near the point where he wants to quit, so we need to focus on issues he has reported and make this a turnkey operation for him that does not require him to debug the system. Jim has addressed the extreme slowness with a new updated Drupal install, followed by an updated CiviCRM. It's possible to host CiviCRM on WordPress, so we may take a look at the possibility. We met with Bob so he could explain what he's learned so far in using CiviCRM, and Jim and Richard will have started to maintain the membership database for now. Bob has agreed to continue as the general meeting greeter for the time being, but Charlie filled in for the March meeting.
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. Our treasurer Bert Goff needs to update our address with the insurance carrier.
5. 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.
6. 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
   We started using them for the March newsletter and we are now saving $10 a month.
7. Bert has supplied a comparison of annual expenses for 2012 and 2013. He has offered to also come up with a budget for 2014.