Washington Area Commodore User Group
Minutes of the Board of Directors Meeting
12 December 1998

Board Meeting Attendance - Jorn Dakin, Alex Goodale, Geof Goodrum, Bob
Mason, Lu Spriggs, and Mike ten Kate

Minutes - Minutes from the November board meeting were distributed and
read.  Minutes were approved as read.

Comments on General Meeting - The clinic/swap meet approach appeared to
work well and resulted in a "higher energy level" than just holding a swap
meet.  It also looks like we may have picked up two new members.

Attendance at General Meeting - About 20.

Treasurer's Report - The Treasurer's reports for November and December
were reviewed and accepted as presented.  Bob Mason was reimbursed for an
itemized list of blank disk/label purchases which amounted to $24.  Geof
Goodrum was given a check for $50 to cover APCUG dues for the coming year.

Disk Sales/Membership renewals - Total disk sales came to $58.00 for
fourteen PC-disks and three 8-bit disks.

General Discussion - Geof shared some examples of award winning user group
magazines and newsletters with the board.  He also provided some
comparative scoring data to illustrate where WAC fell in the competition.  
Geof's poll of board members resulted in a positive vote for placing the
APCUG logo on the front of the Cursor.

Geof explained that the APCUG is seeking member groups to participate in a
"pooled" advertising program which could result in some limited revenue to
the club.  However, this revenue would be offset by increased production
costs and the time of club members to put together a more complex
newsletter. On the other hand, increased ad revenue might allow the club
to produce a higher quality newsletter (e.g., heavier paper, use of
photographs, etc.). Geof said he would forward the APCUG email to all
board members for further consideration.

The club's Bylaws were discussed again.  Specifically, the language
pertaining to Article VI, Section 1.a. The board voted to leave this
language alone.

To date, 22 members have renewed their club membership.

To respond to the Community Living Alternatives (CLA) request for
volunteers, it was agreed that Kathryn should include an announcement in
the January Cursor explaining the need for volunteers.  We will then
follow-up at the January meeting to see what level of interest exists.  
Mike ten Kate agreed to send an email to CLA requesting clarification on
whether they need assistance during the work week or on weekends.  (Note:  
I later received an email from CLA explaining that they are generally
interested in weekday assistance.  This fact should probably be reflected
in the Cursor announcement.)

Regarding evaluation software packages, Geof noted that 90 days is
generally the cut-off for preparing newsletter reviews.  After that time
period, the club runs the risk of being putting on the vendor's "black
list."

Future Meetings - The agenda for the January and February meetings were
agreed on.  The January meeting will address club business (mainly, the
annual election, annual Treasurer's report, and Geof's State of the Club
address) and cover a "getting your computer ready for the new year" theme.  
A representative from On-Track will demonstrate file recovery and Y2K
software, Geof will preview Norton SystemsWorks, and Alex Goodale will
cover Partition Magic, Nuts & Bolts, and related maintenance utilities.  
Mike agreed to request an evaluation copy of Norton SystemWorks from
Symantec.

The February meeting will focus on a "personal finances/tax preparation"  
theme.  Jorn Dakin will demo Quicken 99 while Alex will cover a number of
additional software packages.  Required demo software packages include
Microsoft Money 99, Turbo Tax by Intuit, and Tax Cut by H&R Block.  Mike
said he would follow-up on requests for evaluation copies of these
software packages.

Meeting adjourned