Shall We start a MUG November 11th 2007.

 

 

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Welcome to the Typical Mac User Live show. My name is Victor Cajiao and I am your host this evening. My regular Podcast Typical Mac User Podcast can be found at www.typicalmacuser.com and that shows is released weekly on Tuesday nights.

 

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I want to thank Ambrosia software found at ambrosiasw.com for sposoring the show today. Ambrlosia makes great software like DEFCON. Defcon is a stunning, online multi-player simulation of global thermonuclear war. The game, inspired by the 1983 cult-classic film, WarGames,  Your mission - to successfully exterminate your enemy's civilian population while at the same time disabling their ability to attack your own.You can get free trials of all Ambrosia software at www.ambrosiasw.com Tell them Victor sent you.

 

This evening we are going to do a brainstorming session to see if we can start a Virutual on line Mac Users Group. This show will be a bit different because it's going to be all of us brainstorming about this subject. I will review what a Mac Users group is and give us some basics to start from. Many of you in the room or in the audience are already members of a MUG. I have never been in a MUG so I know very little . I have made an outline for tonight that we can use here to create a new MUG (maybe) or at least at the end of this session we will all be more educated about what a MUG is an maybe some of you may want to create your own MUG.

 

Resources I used for everything below

 

 

http://www.mugcenter.com/s The Mug Center

 

http://www.apple.com/usergroups/ Apple's Users Group Web site

 

 

 

Basic Mac User Group information

 

Mac User groups or MUGS are people who use Apple technologies have joined together in user groups all around the world. Hundreds of groups offer members the chance to become friends with other Mac users, get questions answered, and have a lot of fun. Groups are for everyone from first-time computer users to experts — from every profession, background, and age.

 

Why Join a MUG

 

1. Make new friends.

2. Get support and enhance your skills.

3. Teach others.

4. Save money.

5. Find On-Line resources.

6. Make MacGeek contacts.

8. Volunteer in the community.

9. It’s just plain fun.

 

So what do we need to do to start an Apple Users Group?

 

What are the minimum requirements for new groups?

To be approved as a public user group, you need:

 

 

Three leader contacts in the database

 

 

A generic group email address

 

 

A group website

 

 

A history of successful meetings

 

 

To be approved as an online-only group, you need:

 

100 members on your listserv and/or web discussion board

 

A digest version of your listserv

 

 

A method for Apple to view postings

 

Three leader contacts in the database

 

A generic group email address

 

A group website

 

!

 

 

 

resource : http://www.mugcenter.com/starting-a-mac-user-group/#checklist

 

 

 

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Next Steps

 

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Other things to consider for the next meeting.

 

What shall we call this group?

 

When will we meet?

 

What format will we use, audio, video, live show, pre-recorded podcasts?

 

How will we solicit members for the group, especially those who may not be as "geeky" as our typical podcast audience. Especially since the more novice members are the ones who would most benefit from our MUG.

 

How can we ensure that the work for the group is evenly distributed and doesn't fall to heavily on any individual or group of members?

 

 

How do we create a name and logo?

When thinking about a name or logo, be creative. We need to create a unique brand identity for your group. Make your logo your own, which means not including the Apple logo or Apple trademarked images. Apple does provide an approved logo that groups can use to identify themselves as recognized Apple user groups. we can get those at the site.

 

Adopt bylaws

Yes, it sounds bureaucratic, and it doesn’t have to be done right away, but you’ll be glad you did later. Having a written set of by-laws prevents disputes and misunderstandings as your group evolves, and the officers and leaders change. They can be very simple, or very elaborate. And as long as you have some provision for updating them, they can be changed as your group evolves.

As you develop your bylaws, decide who will run you group - the Board of Directors, or a group vote. There are advantages and disadvantages to both.

 

I found an article from the Gold Coast MUG (in Florida) that has their bi-laws. Can we be this orgnized? Should we be?

Gold Coast MUG ByLaws

 

 

Register With Apple

If you qualify to be an authorized Macintosh User Group, registering with Apple will get you resources, regular contacts from Apple, and most importantly, an entry in Apple’s User Group Locator. Once there, potential members and others can find out about your group. This is important, since Apple promotes MUGs on their Web site, with each System Software CD release, and with the registration of each new machine.

 

 

Apple recognizes three categories of groups, and has different requirements for each the one that fits what we are attempting to do is Online only group:

 

 

• Online-only groups: A minimum of 100 members, three leader contacts, a live web site, and a searchable archive of discussions.

 

Consider Funding:

 

 

Will we charge dues? Do you need to? What kind of expenses do you plan on incurring? (Meeting room rental? Equipment? Postage? Newsletter printing?) Not watching the books has caused many a MUG to suffer, or worse.

 

Meeting room rental, postage, and printing at this point seem moot. Obviously we will be meeting virtually and sending out correspondence electronically. However there are still significant costs involved. We'll need a domain name, (plenty) of hosting space and bandwidth for potentially large podcasts, some type of mailing list or forum. We could charge a nominal membership fee per year, but we'd probably want to get the MUG going and have a reputation before we try to do so. We could solicit advertising and sponsorship, but we want to be carefully not to make the group appear like on large advertisement.

 

 

resource : http://www.mugcenter.com/starting-a-mac-user-group/#checklist

 

 

 

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SHOW ENDING:

 

 

 

The Typical Mac User Podcast can be found at www.typicalmacuser.com and that shows is released weekly on Tuesday nights. This show will be release in my sream late tonight. If you haven't subscribed to that show yet, head over to the web site at www.typicalmacuser.com and hit the ONE BUTTON iTunes subscription.

 

For now this is your Host Victor Cajiao saying, enjoy the rest of your Sunday