Before I begin covering the highlights of "The Greater Cleveland PC User's Group", I would like to mention that attending the fundraising event for "The American Diabetes Association" Step Out Walk last Saturday, October 3rd was a great event to attend. Many walkers formed in lines of different registration stands to turn in their donations for the last several months. After a nice breakfast of bananas, bagels, and coffee; a young group of ladies from a special dance group led the energetic walkers out of the start gates as everyone prepared for a 4 mile walk in the Downtown Cleveland area. Walkers were greeted with multiple rest stops and cheerful people happily motivating them to move forward to the finish line. After the walkers were happily received at the finish line, a luncheon followed sponsored by Mr. Hero with sub sandwhiches. Those who had raised a certain amount over 100 dollars received a t-shirt and multiple raffle tickets to participate in a drawing at the end of the event. Patti Clair and Eddie D'Amato extended their appreciation for all those involved with helping to not only raising funds that are needed to research this troubling disease, but also threw down a challenge. Yes, that means my online fund raising donation time has been extended until October 31st. Those of us who raise 100 dollars or more get to participate in yet another drawing. I can honestly say that I was pleased with my team, NASA Glenn Research Center for raising us much as they have despite the unstable economic conditions. I had set a goal for raising $500 dollars in the beginning and not only did we end up raising $1,719.00 so far, 2 additional people were able to walk with me that day. I also happened to notice that as a Corporate Team and for someone like myself who has not been on contract with them since the year 2004, somehow, I was able to find 7 people to join my team. I also noticed that for a Corporate Team, we are in the top 5 list out of the 10 Corporate companies that has raised the most funds. That's very impressive since the Team has been known to register at least 20 participants in the past. These individuals did not let the bad economic times prevent them from still moving forward to raising funds for a good cause. So if you want to know if I am a Team Player, point has already been proven multiple times.
Moving on, I would like to introduce what is known as "The Greater Cleveland PC User's Group". Founded in 1982, this group has been known as one of the top PC user's groups in the country. Meetings are held every 2nd Saturday of the month at Cleveland State University. The group started out with over 1,000 users and was often referred to as "The Best Kept Secret" in the Greater Cleveland area. Appears as if at this time with less than 200 members, it seems more like a best kept secret than it did back then. Although technology has changed and more valuable information becomes available online, nothing still beats having a network of people face to face. For one thing, not everything posted online is valid information, with this group, every information discussed has been known to be researched carefully if information is not always available at the present meeting.
Although social media has taken a great turn and is the latest in technology, still you never know who you are really dealing with until you get to meet them and work with them face to face. Sure you have the web cams now to participate in video conferences, however, these people can still be completely different in person. That's why there are good companies that use integrity and caution while making hiring decisions to ensure that they have hired the right candidate for the position that they are trying to fill. People still need to be able to not only network in person, but also be able to form genuine friendships as well. There are several Special Interest Groups that form throughout the Greater Cleveland area on a monthly basis that focus on a specific topic that form underneath The Greater Cleveland PC User's Group and throughout the weeks, I will take the time to discuss each one of them. Today, I am focusing on the General Meetings.
Currently, Bert Boyd is the President of the Greater Cleveland User's Group and Jim Evans, the Vice President. Each month, a specific computer related topic is presented in a friendly and upbeat way. These meetings are not just primarily for the IT Professionals, different business professionals have also been known to attend these meetings just to keep up to date with the latest technologies as places like "The Employment Connection" center have strongly encouraged those in transition to look into.
This coming Saturday, October 10th at Cleveland State University, Bob Coppedge will be the presenter as he focuses on the upcoming release of the latest from Microsoft. As some of you may already know, Microsoft is about to release Windows 7 Desktop and Windows Server 2008. Bob is a former President of the Greater Cleveland PC User's group and is currently the CEO of Simplex-IT Technologies based out of Hudson, Ohio. Feel free to join us next Saturday from 9:30AM to 12:00PM as Bob highlights the main points. Prior to his presentation, there will be a Q & A session for anyone with questions or concerns about their latest PC issues. After the presentation, there are several of us who get together to network and socialize at a restaurant nearby for about an hour. Each month, we have a different speaker come and speak about a different topic. Last month, Crystal Theis from "Virtual Buzz" presented a topic on "Twitter".
I joined this group based on the advice of a former colleague and current friend, Susan Becker, who happens to be very experienced with the latest in Autocad and has a strong background in Mechanical Engineering. Through networking with her, I met a gentleman by the name of Duane Hughes in 2000 who happened to be the President of the Lorain County PC User's Group at the time. Susan often mentioned that if I were to join a group like this one, how much more value I could add to my education that I had been receiving in a classroom environment. She is right, education in the classroom is valuable, however, why not meet with individuals that have the background experience within that particular industry that either you are considering getting into yourself or just want to learn more about if you happen to be the decision maker for the IT Infrastructure within your company or you just simply want to learn more about what's coming next.
In the year 2000, I joined this group and have written several articles about this group when the PC Chronicles were still being printed. Currently, these articles on past presentations maybe found online at the following url address location: http://gcpcug.org. Many have been known to attend these General Meetings for free just to find out what the group is all about. There is a yearly membership fee that is not only affordable but has also proved to be valuable. Also, those who attend the meeting for the first several times are given a chance to provide feedback on the topics that have been presented at these meetings.
Some of the other interest groups that are apart of the Greater Cleveland PC User's Group have been the following:
Sam Nasr's VB.NET/C# Special Interest Group that meets on a monthly basis.
SQL Server
Web SIG - lead by Stuart Smith ..... just to name a few here.
A note: It's often been encouraged in the past for members to step forward to create a Special Interest Group of their own like for example, Ken Rogers did in the past with his "home networking" group which was a very interactive discussion group that would often meet at different locations throughout the Greater Cleveland area.
Some special organizations that have been sponsored by "The Greater Cleveland PC User's Group" have included the following.
Dan Hanson's - Computer's Assisting People - where volunteers have come along to help refurbish PC systems that have been donated by local businesses throughout the local Cleveland area.
Hank Bitterman's - Computers Helping Inspire People program that is based in Beachwood at the Cuyahoga Board of Developmental Disabilities. This is a similar type of PC refurbishing program with a different approach.
Being a part of this group has helped to enhance my knowledge outside of the Corporate experience and classroom environment. This is a great place to build your network if you are considering a field in IT or just want to meet other business professionals. There are Special Interest Groups for the IT Professionals and those with special hobbies.
Just thought I would mention yet another great place to meet in the Greater Cleveland area since there were some whom I networked with in the past who still have not heard of this group.
In the year 2000, I joined this group and have written several articles about this group when the PC Chronicles were still being printed. Currently, these articles on past presentations maybe found online at the following url address location: http://gcpcug.org. Many have been known to attend these General Meetings for free just to find out what the group is all about. There is a yearly membership fee that is not only affordable but has also proved to be valuable. Also, those who attend the meeting for the first several times are given a chance to provide feedback on the topics that have been presented at these meetings.
Some of the other interest groups that are apart of the Greater Cleveland PC User's Group have been the following:
Sam Nasr's VB.NET/C# Special Interest Group that meets on a monthly basis.
SQL Server
Web SIG - lead by Stuart Smith ..... just to name a few here.
A note: It's often been encouraged in the past for members to step forward to create a Special Interest Group of their own like for example, Ken Rogers did in the past with his "home networking" group which was a very interactive discussion group that would often meet at different locations throughout the Greater Cleveland area.
Some special organizations that have been sponsored by "The Greater Cleveland PC User's Group" have included the following.
Dan Hanson's - Computer's Assisting People - where volunteers have come along to help refurbish PC systems that have been donated by local businesses throughout the local Cleveland area.
Hank Bitterman's - Computers Helping Inspire People program that is based in Beachwood at the Cuyahoga Board of Developmental Disabilities. This is a similar type of PC refurbishing program with a different approach.
Being a part of this group has helped to enhance my knowledge outside of the Corporate experience and classroom environment. This is a great place to build your network if you are considering a field in IT or just want to meet other business professionals. There are Special Interest Groups for the IT Professionals and those with special hobbies.
Just thought I would mention yet another great place to meet in the Greater Cleveland area since there were some whom I networked with in the past who still have not heard of this group.
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