President's Message

At our April meeting, the DACS board of directors will go into closed session once again to elect a slate of officers for the coming year. Although our bylaws specify that the membership shall elect the board who will themselves choose their officers, it is not necessary that an officer also be a director. All members are eligible to serve, and we encourage all those who are active in DACS programs to volunteer for office.

The emphasis is on active. As a volunteer-intensive organization, our only job requirement is a commitment to serve, and all we can offer in return is psychic income. But it's that drive to achieve and the thrill of accomplishment that have made DACS a pioneer among user groups and a vital force in our community. So, come to our next meeting and volunteer for office. We are an equal opportunity deployer and have been known to add an extra VP position for just the right person-you.

Y2K - It's back!

Mark your calendars for the 4th of May. That's when DACS will present its next Year 2000 conference, Y2K II. Moving beyond the issues of how we got into the Year 2000 mess and how government, institutions and big business are coping, this time DACS' own Ed Heere will lead a panel of experts focusing on how the individual PC user and small-business entrepreneur can prepare.

Panelists already confirmed include Lori Scott, Y2K coordinator for Danbury Hospital; Tom McIntyre, former president of DACS and an investment manager; Bob Mitchell of the Connecticut Year 2000 Office; and Mary Beth Rippert, a corporate personnel consultant and expert on employment issues in the Millennium.

Members P.O'd over late delivery

An e-mail survey by DACS treasurer, Charlie Bovaird, showed that as of the 10th of March only a fifth of our members had received their newsletters. The newsletter is sent out by presorted standard mail (formerly third class), at a rate of about $.16 each. It is delivered to the Danbury Post Office and then forwarded to Stamford for processing prior to going to designated local Post Offices. Under normal conditions, mail should have a maximum stopover of three days at each point and reach its destination within nine days. It is suspected that the automatic processing equipment is breaking down, but postal officials are mum on the reasons.

An obvious alternative would be to send dacs.doc out by first-class mail, but this could add about $.50 to each piece and as much as $5.00 a year to membership dues. If you are regularly receiving the newsletter after the General Meeting, you might want to download a copy from our Website. Articles and the calendar from each issue are routinely uploaded to dacs.org two weeks prior to the meeting, and a PDF version of the complete newsletter is posted about a week later. We are also considering sending an attached copy of the calendar and the next-meeting announcement as an attachment directly to our member e-mail list.

Got some ideas? Send me an e-mail to let me know what you think. In the meantime, you might drop your local postmaster a line care of your local 4-digit zip code, and ask why your copy of dacs.doc takes so long to get to your mailbox.

--Allan Ostergren
dacsprez@aol.com