President's File
May 2014

By Dick Gingras

I would like to start by recognizing Richard Corzo's leadership and commitment to DACS as its President for the past 4 years. He has worked relentlessly to arrange our General Meetings and slide shows, lead the Apple SIG, co-lead the Mobile SIG, and undertaken countless other roles for all of us at DACS. Fortunately for DACS he has offered to help me ease into my role as your new President.

Who I am and a short history of DACS
I have been involved with computer user groups for nearly 35 years and held leadership roles in the Danbury Osborn Group (DOG) which morphed into the Western Connecticut Microcomputer User Group (WCMUG) as we transitioned to IBM (type) PCs. Later we merged with the Danbury Area User Group (DAUG) in 1990 and became the Danbury Area Computer Society (DACS), of which I was elected President. A few years later we welcomed the Apple user group which became a very active SIG within DACS. DACS grew from a combined membership of 50 in 1990 to nearly 1000 members before I stepped down as President nearly five years later, in 1995. Alas, family and career needed my attention and kept me from being active until recently.

DACS grew because of a lot of hard but rewarding work by many people who had a common vision for it. We went through our share of growing pains and quickly grew out of two other venues before we had the good fortune to be offered the Danbury Hospital auditorium on a regular basis. Shortly after this we were able to negotiate a permanent “club house” (Resource Center) with the town of Danbury, in part because of our involvement in the community. I believe we can generate the same kind of excitement and enthusiasm all over again, fill the auditorium on a regular basis, and expand the number of SIGs. But it will take some hard work and more of you to step up to get involved, even if just for 1 or 2 hours a month. You will be greatly rewarded as you see the results of your efforts.

Current opportunities
I see my role as DACS chief ambassador and orchestrator, ultimately responsible for everything that happens or doesn’t happen at DACS, and accountable to every one of you and the Board of Directors. I strongly believe in delegating as much as possible and offering to those people who take on responsibilities the spotlight and credit deserved for what they accomplish. We have a very active Board of Directors and I look to them for guidance while resisting the temptation to use the Board as a volunteer pool.

I don’t know how Richard Corzo was able to handle all the roles he took upon himself. I know my limitations and one of the first roles that absolutely must be off loaded is that of Program Chair. This person will be responsible for contacting potential speakers, coordinating meeting events, and lining up individuals to write previews and reviews of the events. This person will solicit ideas from all of you, and from the Board of Directors, and as the title implies, may have a staff to lighten the load and possibly look into special events or joint activities with other organizations. I know someone out there is up to the task. Is it you?

We also need a public relations person to proactively promote DACS and its activities by getting out in front of the press, social networks, and other organizations… someone who is always looking for an opportunity to get our name out there. I would especially like for this person to be active with social networking such as Facebook, Google+, Twitter, Meet-up, and LinkedIn, and how best to use them to spread the word. Perhaps even start a SIG. Are there any takers?

Upcoming Event
This month Dr. John Patrick will deliver his vision of “The Future of Healthcare and the Internet”. I hope all of you can come to watch John’s presentation. I sent a message to you last week to encourage you to print and distribute posters to publicize this event. I hope you were able to do so. I want so much to pack the auditorium again for a number of reasons. Bring your friends and coworkers. I’m sure they will enjoy the presentation and perhaps become members of the DACS family.

-Dick Gingras