DACS Board of Directors Meeting
Wednesday, April 2, 2014

By Lisa Leifels

Called to Order:  7:20

Attending: Richard Corzo, Dick Gingras, Bert Goff, Lisa Leifels, Jim Scheef, Richard Teasdale

Minutes of Last Meeting: Accepted.

Treasurer's Report for March, 2014

                         
Old Business

1. General meetings

• April 1: Android—Jeff Postolowski, WCSU. Preview: Richard Corzo, Review: Richard Teasdale
• May 6: John Patrick—State of the Internet.  Preview: Andy Woodruff, Review: Steve Harkness

• Possible future topics:

• Cloud Computing is a topic that may be possible for the June general meeting.  Jim mentioned that two of our guests volunteered to do a presentation on Cloud Computing.  Jim thought the presentation should be targeted to desktop computer users.
• Digital cameras – Discuss higher end digital cameras and what features are most important.  This topic is a possibility for the July general meeting.  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 could do a presentation on this, but not in the immediate future.  Richard Corzo thought we should contact the candlewood camera club to find a speaker.  Jim offered to come up with a contact for the Candlewood Camera Club.  Jim said he may be able to attend their next meeting.
• Video production – How to plan and create a video that tells a story.  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 busy on a project, but he could potentially do a presentation mid-to-late summer.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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

• To be rescheduled at a future date: XP to Ubuntu Linux Workshop—Bruce Preston, David Mawdsley, Jim Ritterbusch, Sean Henderson.  Preview: Bruce Preston, Review: ________

3. CiviCRM – Jim said that as far as usability we are in good shape and the user data is up to date.  Richard offered to input the data for the month of April.  Dick suggested sending out a welcome email to our guests.
4. APCUG – Find out from Bill Saturno if we can get items to give out for general meeting prizes.
5. Alarm –Jim and Charlie will remain on the contact list. Jim is going to call the alarm system contact to add Dick to the contact list.

• Bert updated the treasurer’s report to include columns for year-to-date to supplement the current month information.

New Business

• Dick would like to establish a Program Committee chairperson to oversee and be accountable to him for lining up future presentations and also writing the previews and reviews for each general meeting.  The person in this role would both suggest topics and take suggestions from the Board and general membership.  Dick said he would approach the general membership to fill this position.

2. Dick suggested adding a QR code to the Dacs.doc cover page pointing to dacs.org so that everyone with a smart phone can easily learn more about DACS.  He will get in touch with Allen Ostergren to see if this can be done for the next poster he creates for the May general meeting.

• At the suggestion of some of our members last night, we should make the cover page of the newsletter easily available to our mailing list by including a link to the newsletter as soon as available. We need to encourage everyone to print one or more copies of the cover sheet to post at their supermarkets, library, post office, etc.
• Open Public Relations position responsible for promoting DACS events and news items at every level including social media. Events include all meetings/events open to the public. News items include things like the election of officers (with bios and photos as appropriate), election of Board members, awards (i.e. newsletter), and anything that gets the name of our group into the public domain.

5. Dick asked Richard Teasdale to contact all of our media resources and make sure that we are sending the press releases to the right person. 

Adjourned: 9:30